


Kingdom Hearts Relationship Struggles

by Kisdota_The_Freak_Gamer



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: BDSM Scene, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Platonic Relationships, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2019-10-29 08:51:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 86,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17804924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kisdota_The_Freak_Gamer/pseuds/Kisdota_The_Freak_Gamer
Summary: AU Happy ending for Kingdom Hearts. Everyone is enjoying the newfound peace after the defeat of Xehanort, but now without anymore distractions everyone starts to realize their feelings for one another. However after so much fighting not everyone knows how having a relationship can changer things.On Destiny Island Kairi and Sora know they love each other but don't know where to go from there. In Radient Garden Namine enjoys spending time with Riku but still has trouble understanding her feelings. In Twilight Town Roxas is a bit annoyed that Xion keeps getting a lot of attention from a lot of guys. In the Land of Departure Aqua if afraid of being alone but doesn't want to burden her friends.  (SPOILERS FOR KINGDOM HEARTS 3)





	1. We've grown up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Okay so just so you all know this will contain spoilers to Kingdom Hearts 3. It's been for freaking ever since I even looked at my first ever fic and I'm proud to see how far I've gone. But now 3 is finally out and I need a better continuation than the one we all had and I'm sure you all do to. All the loose ends from the multitude of games have been tied but now we have a new one and I'm pissed that I need to wait for another sequel. I'm also jacking up the rating of my usual fics because we need more fics like this.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Square Enix.

Sora and Kairi both sat on their favorite spot on the tree looking over the sunset over Destiny Island. Sora dressed in his white button up shirt and blue stripped pants and tie, Kairi dressed in her own school uniform. The two of them sat close to one another as the sound of the waves echoed around their small island.

“So… what should we do tomorrow?” Kairi asked.

“Sigh, I don’t know,” Sora said with a bored expression he laid back on the tree letting one of his legs dangle close to the ground, “you know it’s been a while since we’ve gone anywhere. You think-.”

“No,” Kairi immediately stated.

“Just for a day,” Sora argued stting up, “We could just go out you and me we can give one of the guys a phone tell them to call us if there’s a problem. You gotta see Arendelle snow is a lot more fun than I thought it would be, I mean it’s really cold but you get used to it quick.”

“You know we can’t leave this place yet we have to make sure it’s kept safe for now, it’s our responsibility now,” Kairi said.

“Yeah, I know,” Sora felt dejected and leaned back down on his tree, “When did home become so… boring? I remember spending days here having fun all day but now its just gotten too quiet.”

“We still have fun,” Kairi said.

“Only when our friends are here, everyone else is doing their own things back home. Tidus and Wakka are both playing sports and Selphie’s just… nobody has time to do anything,” Sora said.

“They’re growing up we all are, we can’t always have free time,” Kairi spoke looking down at Sora, “… What are your plans when you grow up?”

“What do you mean when I grow up?” Sora questioned.

“I mean are you still going to be a Keyblade master,” Kairi asked him.

“Well yeah, I mean not to blow my own horn but I pretty much am one. I just need to be verified by another master. Plus I’m sure there’s a lot more worlds who could use help I just know I could do a lot of good,” Sora said.

“And then what?” Kairi asked.

“What do you mean what?” Sora asked.

“Will you just travel to other worlds forever?” Kairi asked, Sora stopped to think for a moment.

“Maybe, I mean usually when someone becomes a master they can choose to either travel to other worlds or stay in one place and protect it and teach other people,” Sora said.

“And you’re going to choose to travel?” Kairi asked.

“I don’t know,” Sora questioned himself, “I mean Riku hasn’t chosen what he wants to do yet. I mean he’s a teacher now but I don’t think that means he’s going to stay in Radient Garden. Why did he get to stay in another world.”

“We’re pretty sure that we don’t need that many Keyblade wielders in one place,” Kairi said.

“And I’m pretty sure we’re worried about nothing,” Sora said.

“Isn’t this island where you found the door to the dark realm?” Kairi asked him.

“Oh uh… well I locked it on the way out,” Sora suddenly remembered.

“Well if we don’t see any Shadows for another week then we’ll know it’s safe,”Kairi said.

“Great,” Sora groaned knowing that he’d be stuck in one world for a while.

“Well what would you normally do if the others were still here?” Kairi asked getting up off her spot.

“Welllll… I guess me and Riku would have still been having some kind of fight or race. Everyone else we tried?” Sora rose his head up.

“Like you said there’s no one else here to have fun with and now that I think about it you and I never tried competing in anything,” Kairi said.

“Oh yeah, I guess that’s true,” Sora said.

“You went against everyone before, even Selphie. Why did you never try racing or fighting me before?” Kairi asked.

“Could you fight before?” Sora asked.

“Well… no but it wouldn’t have hurt for you to at least ask me, what about racing… all I ever did was watch you and Riku fight or race now that I think about it,” Kairi spoke up.

“Well… you… uh,” Sora stuttered with his words, “You were pretty… uhhhhhhhh-.”  
“Pretty what?” Kairi placed her hands on her hips and glared at Sora.

“mnnnnnmnnn- delicate?” Sora questioned hoping his answer was decent enough.

“… I see,” Kairi answered, “So you thought I was that weak?”

“NO! I-I mean we were just kids and you weren’t that tough before,” Sora rolled off the tree and landed on his feet, “We were young you were just a little girl then-.”

“We were the same age, you went on an adventure and made me wait for you,” Kairi stated.

“I just wanted you to be safe! I couldn’t go and save Riku if I was protecting you- okay you’re making it seem like I was a bad person- where are you going?” Sora asked. 

* * *

 

Sora and Kairi stood next to each other on the other side of the island where the old bridge and lookout tower were. Kairi stretched out her legs warming up while Sora just stood by mentally questioning what they were doing.

“Do we have to do this?” Sora asked her.

“What? I thought you said you were bored, or am I not good enough for you?” Kairi crouched down stretching out one of her legs.

“I know but you know I don’t think you’re weak right?” Sora was worried about what Kairi was feeling suddenly challenging him like this.

“I know, but I still think I need to show you,” Kairi said, “You remember where the star tree is right?”

“Yeah,” Sora said.

“First one there and back wins,” Kairi said, “If I win then I’m better than both you and Riku.”

“What? How’s that supposed to make any sense,” Sora asked.

“This race was the only time you ever beat Riku, if I can beat you here then it means I could have beaten both of you in a race,” Kairi said.

“… okay… fine alright,” Sora suddenly perked up at her logic, “But if I beat you then you have to let me take you to another world.”

“No.”

“Right fine, then you have to admit that I don’t think you’re weak,” Sora said.

“Fine… anything goes?” Kairi asked getting in position to start the race.

“Yup, you can do anything you want to beat the other,” Sora got in line as well.

“Good to know… READY GO!” Kairi wasted no time and immediately started running before Sora could figure out what happened.

“Wait that-!” “STOP!”

With a wave of her hand a spark of magic surrounded Sora freezing him in place at the exact moment of his complaint. To Sora the world around him started moving a lot quicker as if it were a movie on fast forward. Kairi could already see Sora fighting off the spell and started jumping across the broken wooden walkway heading for the tall lookout tower.

“If I can just get to the zipline before Sora breaks free I’ll get way ahead of him,” Kairi said to herself rushing forward.

“-‘s cheating! Dang it!” Sora was able to break free of the spell, looking ahead he saw Kairi who was already at the tower climbing up to the rope at the top that would take her quickly to the tree. Sora ignored the bridge and jumped across the gap double jumping with his latent magic and crossed the wide gap with ease.

“Where does he keep learning these moves?” Kairi questioned halfway up the ladder, Sora was catching up to her and she doubled her efforts on the race. Sora caught up to her and started climbing up the ladder right behind her.

“That wasn’t fair!” Sora called out.

“Says the boy who can fly!” Kairi retorted.

“I wasn’t going to use those powers!” Sora said.

“So you’re just holding back, you still think I’m weak!? Holy!” Kairi looked down at Sora before waving her hand and firing a small burst of holy light, she knew it was harmless to Sora but he didn’t know that.

“Whoa!” Sora swung to the side on one arm avoiding her attack, “Okay I’m calling domestic abuuuu-!”

Sora froze mid sentence and stopped his accent. When he looked back up to yell at Kairi she had just reached the top but un(fortunately) Sora could see right underneath her short skirt. Sora wanted to say something, he knew he should have looked away but the pink panties were too enticing for him to look away. Clung snugly between her legs, Sora could easily see the point where her legs and the cheeks of her toned cute butt met, it was just a small portion of her skin showing at that point before it was covered up by the elastic and possibly small cloth of her underwear. That space got even bigger when she reached the top and bent over giving him an even better look. A few moments of eternity and Sora knew he shouldn’t be staring and had to say something.

“Ka-Kairi-!” *BONK* During his stutter and dumbfounded state Sora never noticed that he had let go of the ladder and fell to the ground.

“Sora!” Kairi heard Sora hit his head and turned around to see if he was okay.

“I-I’m fine,” Sora said staring back up rubbing the back of his bruised head. This time Kairi placed both hands on the front of her skirt as she looked down preventing Sora from getting another peak.

“We’ll take a look as soon as I beat you,” Kairi turned right around and grabbed the handle of the zipline before zooming off. Sora briefly forgot what he saw and remembered he was in a race.

“Right, if she doesn’t want me to hold back then I won’t,” Sora ran to the opposite side of the tower. Hopping up in the air he dashed right into the building standing on the side for a brief moment. Using his magic he leapt off and high jumped into the air. Kairi had just tagged the tree when she saw Sora was already about to catch up to her.

Sora landed right on the cliffside before tagging the tree and racing back. This time Sora hopped high into the air and started gliding back to the spot.

“Okay now you’re cheating!” Kairi yelled.

“Any way to win!” Sora called back sailing off into the sky.

“I need to get him to teach me that,” Kairi reminded herself.

Sora felt like he had enough of a lead on Kairi and decided to finish the race the old-fashioned way by foot. Kairi didn’t give up and still kept up, Sora was genuinely surprised that Kairi was faster on foot than he was but it didn’t seem like it would matter. The two of them reached the busted up walkway, Sora jumped between the open spaces remembering to go a little farther to avoid the patched up spot. Kairi was right behind him but in her haste she had forgotten the broken area of the bridge.

*crack* Kairi felt the floorboard below her feet start to break and give way, she yelped when she felt herself falling down to the shallows before.

“KAIRI!” Sora felt Kairi’s distress and immediately turned around giving a quick air dash towards Kairi. He caught her but the two of them still fell to the beach below. Sora twisted around allowing him to hit the water first.

*SPLASH* Sora his the water first, laying on his back in the shallow water his uniform was soaked and cold but the soft sand prevented more damage than the last time he fell. He felt the weight of Kairi on top of him which meant he succeeded in preventing her from getting too hurt. Sora raised his head to look at Kairi and see if she was okay.

“A-ahh!”

As soon as Sora did his vision was filled with pink and Sora thought he heard Kairi cry out in pain. Kairi had fallen right on top of Sora her back on his front. However they somehow twisted around leaving Kairi’s legs around Sora’s head. It took seconds for Sora to feel that his nose was between something soft and poking a stiff spot. It was then that Sora realized he was poking Kairi right in a certain area between her legs.

*BAM* Kairi was able to scoot away before kicking Sora right in the face out of reflex.

“SORA! I-I’m sorry!” Kairi sounded both mortified at what happened but also apologetic. The two of them separated from each other.

“NONONO I didn’t mean to- uh oh-,” Sora started to explain himself but once again got distracted. Kairi’s white shirt had become nearly transparent allowing Sora to easily see the pink frilly bra that Kairi had worn underneath. Kairi was questioning why Sora was blushing until she looked down at herself. Shrieking she wrapped her arms around herself while Sora turned right around unable to look at Kairi.

“Let’s… let’s just… call this a draw,” Kairi blushed from what had just happened.

“Right right let’s go I- I’m sorry I wasn’t going to stare-,” Sora stuttered once again to explain himself.

“Stop stop STOP I don’t want you to talk about it!” Kairi yelled back, shame filling her when she remember what had happened moments ago as well as the lingering reminder of where Sora had just touched her.

“I didn’t mean to look it was just-,” Sora went on still keeping his eyes off Kairi.

“Sora!” Kairi placed one hand on his should while using her other to keep her chest covered, “Please just stop talking and just… walk to the boat. I’m done for the day.”

“Right… me-me to,” Sora felt dejected and ashamed for what he had done.

 

* * *

Sora slowly rowed their boat back home while Kairi kept herself covered. The two of them sat back to back making sure not to let the other see how humiliated they were. The ride back was pretty quiet and the two of them still blushed from the memory of what happened.

“… Sora?” Kairi meekly said.

“Y-Yeah yes?” Sora answered.

“When we were climbing the ladder… did you… see,” Kairi couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

“I didn’t see anything!” Sora immediately spoke up. Kairi could easily tell that he was lying and tried to bury her face in her shoulders.  
Landing back on the mainland Sora and Kairi got off and started heading for their separate destinations.

“Sooo um,” Sora tried to look at Kairi who still hand her hands around herself. The pink straps of her bra could still be seen, thankfully there didn’t seem to be anyone around.

“Y-Yes?” Kairi asked trying just as hard to look at Sora.

“N-Nothing, I have to go,” Sora immediately started walking home before Kairi could get a word in. She however didn’t feel like talking about what happened and just let him be.

 

* * *

On his walk home Sora tried to focus on the path but now his thoughts were going to forever be plagued with the memory of what happened. Kairi’s shapely cute butt, her size and frilly choice of her bra and underwear, and that moment he felt her soft nether on his nose. He knew he shouldn’t be focusing on that, Kairi was a lot more than a surprisingly well toned supple young woman-.

“Ugh!” Sora groaned in annoyance, “When did she stop looking like a kid?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: I plan to try and make a relationship story for everyone. I got RikuxNamine next, then RoxasxXion, followed by AquaxTerra those are my personal favorite ships and I'm bummed out that we have sooo many cutscenes in Kingdom Hearts but few of them are about the relationship of the main characters. Be sure to comment or review depending on where you're reading this.


	2. New purpose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Not a lot of reviews but it’s too be expected with the rating and I’m sure people don’t want to be known about reading this. There’s not going to be any lemon/smut for a while though this fic is going to be a slow burn. Anyway hope to hear from some of you for this update really trying to get into the swing up fiction writing.

In the Radiant Garden castle garden Terra and Lea both continued to swing their weapons at each other. Terra stood his ground making little movement to block each of Lea’s attacks. Though he was far more experienced, Lea’s more aggressive fighting style was difficult to continue blocking. Lea spun his weapon in his hand before throwing it like a frisbee, Terra rolled out of the way only for Lea to send a small fire spell. Terra reacted and thrust his free hand forward.

A dark like portal materialized around his hand before a long arm of darkness shot out breaking apart the fire spell.

* _BAM_ * “GGhh!” Lea was knocked back into the wall harshly leaving a noticeable crack.

“LEA!” Terra panicked and dropped his weapon running to where he struck his friend. \

“Jeeze, think you hit hard enough,” Lea questioned, “Seriously though can you please top me off?”

“Right,  **Cure** ,” Terra spoke letting out a healing light around Lea. 

“ _MNNNN_  oh yeah that’s the good stuff,” Lea reveled in the feeling of the magic, “Really wish I could learn that spell.”

* * *

“You’re still having trouble controlling the darkness,” Riku stated to Terra.  

“I know… I still can’t figure out why, any ideas?” Terra asked.  

“You’ve been through a lot, enough pain to know the dangers of darkness. More than I have at least but I suppose something is holding you back from fully grasping it,” Riku said, “It should come to you in time, at least it doesn’t seem like the darkness is trying to take over you so there’s no danger of losing yourself.”

“Any chance of this happening before he punches out all my ribs?” Lea questioned. 

“I thought you wanted the challenge?” Riku joked. 

“Yeah yeah laugh it up,” Lea said, “In all seriousness I don’t want to be punched into a shadowy paste.” 

“You’ve got enough resistance to dark magic to take it, even if Terra were to fully lose himself you’d still survive a full attack from him. Which of course chances are you’ll never have to experience,” Riku said.

“That doesn’t stop it from hurting you know,” Lea said. 

“Well it’s late now, we’ll try again tomorrow,” Riku said. 

“Thank you Master Riku,” Terra lightly bowed. 

“Right right, thanks master,” Lea said with less enthusiasm. 

* * *

Riku began his trek out of the small town and towards Radiant Garden castle. The people around him bid good morning to their residential Keyblade guardian.  After the training session he gave Axel and Terra he did his patrol with Dilan and Aeleus finding only a few Shadows roaming outside the town. Radiant Garden despite the name was still tainted by darkness leftover by Maleficent and the old Organization. The Darkness was noticeably dwindling though and soon the Heartless presence would dwindle as well.

Riku took out his Gummi Phone deciding to see how his old home and friend was doing. 

“ _Hello_?” Sora answered on the video. 

“Sor-oh?” Riku was about to greet him but was distracted by the large bruise on his face, “What… happened?”

“ _What?_ ” Sora questioned. 

“You’ve got a black eye,” Riku said worried.

“ _I do_?” Sora placed a hand on his face near his eye. The video suddenly shook from Sora’s realization of pain on his face, “ _Oh it must have happened when Kai_ -,” Riku could see a noticeable change of color on Sora’s face as he trailed off. 

“Is everything okay? There weren’t any Heartless on the Islands were there?” Riku asked.

“ _Yeah, no no everything is okay there’s not heartless or anything. It’s just… I… may have-… I can’t say_ ,” Sora was visibly shaken from something. Riku thought that something must have frightened him. 

“Sora you need to tell me what it is,” Riku told him.

“ _No,_!” Sora immediately answered, “ _It’s- I just- it’s nothing to worry about_.”

“It is if it’s scaring you then it really is my problem,” Riku said, “I’m asking Kairi about this.”

“ _NO!_ ” Sora yelled out, “ _Okay fine just… you cannot tell anyone about this alright?_

“Alright,” Riku said.

“ _And please DO NOT tell Kairi that I told you about this she would hate me forever_ ,” Sora started sounding even more scared than before.

“Okay it’s fine, just tell me what it was,” Riku nearly ordered.

“ _We…._ * _exhale_ * _Kairi and I were hanging out on the island like always, the two of us raced against each other and… she may have fell on top of me_ ," Sora explained.

“That’s all?” Riku questioned.

“ _Y-… y-yes, that’s all that happened_ ,” Sora tried to lie.

“What really happened,” Riku easily saw through his attempted deception.

“ _… *sigh*….Kairi… fell on top of me… and... the position we were in it let me... see..._ ,” Sora tried to say.

“Wait was all this right after school?” Riku asked.

“ _Yes_ ,” Sora said.

“Oh… so she was wearing her regular uniform with the skirt-ooooh,” Riku started to get an idea.

_“Yeah… she-… she kicked me_ ,” Sora said.

“… so… it was an accident right?” Riku asked now worried.

“ _Yes! I would never try something like that on Kairi_!” Sora said.

“Did you enjoy it?” Riku questioned.

“ _Wh-NO!_ _Why would I do something like that to Kairi!?_ ” Sora yelled at Riku.

“No no I mean- well I guess that was wrong of me to say considering how you are,” Riku said, “Has she said anything to you about it?”

“ _We… uggghhh we can’t even look each other in the eye. I just- I want to say sorry for oh man I can’t even say why I’m sorry_ ,” Sora groaned blushing even more.  

“Well you’re going to have to talk to her at some point. Just talk to her I doubt very much that Kairi is going to stay mad at you for something like this. Besides you two are a couple now, if it didn’t happen by accident it was bound to happen on purpose,” Riku said.

“ _We- huh_ ,” Sora started to wonder.

“What?” Riku asked.

“ _Are… me and Kairi really a couple_?” Sora questioned.

“Aren’t you?” Riku questioned, “Wasn’t that the whole point of you two sharing the Paopu fruit?”

“ _Well_ ,” Sora’s voice started to get a bit quiet, “ _I mean… I think but we haven’t really mentioned that or talked about anything like that_.”

“Oh for- Sora I thought you could never disappoint me but here we are,” Riku said annoyed.

“ _What’s that supposed to mean_?” Sora questioned.

“Take Kairi out,” Riku ordered.

“ _What? I can’t even look at her right now_!” Sora said.

“Get over it, ask her out somewhere and get this sorted out or I’m telling Kairi what you told me. As much as I don’t want to,” Riku said suddenly realizing the mistake in his threat.

“ _You wouldn’t dare_ ,” Sora told him.

“Don’t make me have an incredibly awkward conversation with my friend, you’ve got three days,” Riku ordered.

“ _You’re seriously threatening me!? I-I can’t I’m not ready to face her-_.” * _Beep_ * Riku hung up his phone before Sora could say anything.

“I love those two so much but dear light they are dense,” Riku groaned in annoyance.

* _RIiiiiing_ * Riku heard his phone ringing and looked to see that it was Sora calling him. Riku just hit the decline button and hung up.

* * *

The halls of Radiant Garden’s castle were still facing repair after all this time. Riku still felt a bit uneasy at the sight of Even’s or Vexen’s, whoever he was, Dusk cleaning and sweeping the halls. Ever since Even had returned to their group he had been using Dusk Nobodies to assist him with everything they could. While their intelligence seemed primitive at best they were still good at doing many menial labors. A bit of Riku expected the Dusk to suddenly attack him at any moment but he let them go along their tasks. 

Approaching the room he was looking for he lightly knocked on the door.

“Riku,” Namine opened the door, “Are you done with lessons for the day?”

“Yeah, you free to come out now?” Riku asked.

“Yes, I really need a break,” Namine said. Exiting her room she held a thick book in her hand. She approached one of the Dusk’s sweeping the halls.

“Would you mind putting this back in the library when you can?” Namine asked the Nobody.

The Nobody grabbed the book and unzipped his mouth before eating up the book storing it in his empty body to put away later.

“Thank you for all your hard work,” Namine told the Nobody. Riku wasn’t able to tell but he swore he saw the creature smile at her.

 

* * *

Riku and Namine strolled along the market square, Namine had picked up a sea-salt ice cream at one of the stands before slumping down on one of the park benches. 

“Rough day?” Riku asked sitting next to her.

“Yes, Ienzo and Even insist on teaching me at the same time, and we still have to work on our heart simulation,” Namine said, “It’s not easy to make a heart on a computer but I need one to practice my powers on.”

“I’m still willing to let you try and practice on me,” Riku said.

“I’m trying to put memories back together without altering them, it wouldn’t help much if I already knew what the memories were supposed to be,,” Namine said, “And besides you’re too valuable to risk losing.”

“If this works you think you can start fixing people who were lost?” Riku asked her.

“Maybe, we still don’t know if Heartless retain any memories at all or can even make memories,” Namine said, “Sora and Terra were able to come back after becoming heartless but they had exceptionally strong hearts and there’s a bunch of other factors we’re not considering. At the very least though just being able to peer into the memories if any of a Heartless would help us understand them more.”

“ _Heh_ , you sound more and more like a scientist each day,” Riku chuckled, “Why not just practice on a real Heartless?”

“Too risky, if I connect with a Heartless I may risk losing myself to its darkness,” Namine said, “I could probably resist it but Master Ansem has become more concerned with safety. I understand the need and I agree with him especially considering what happened but it’s put a damper on our progress.”

“You consider asking Tron to try and help with the Heart simulation? I’m pretty sure he has a heart especially since he’s been working with Sora,” Riku said.

“He runs the towns defense network and DTD, if something happened to him we’d be defenseless,” Namine said, “If we had a chance to just look at a heart in a machine or anything similar it would make everything go a lot smoother.”

“I’ll ask Sora, knowing him he’s bound to have met something like that,” Riku said.

* _Riiiiing_ * “Speaking of which,” Riku took out his phone only to decline the call.

“Who’s that?” Namine asked.

“Tell me, you wouldn’t happen to have any leftovers of Kairi’s memories, would you?” Riku asked, “If this is too personal you don’t have to tell me.”

“Kairi’s memories, I don’t have a lot of her memories why?” Namine said.

“Kairi loves Sora right?” Riku asked.

“Oh, yes she certainly does. That was one of the memories and feelings that would stick out the most,” Namine said.

“I don’t think they’re together yet,” Riku said.

“What?” Namine was shocked at what he said, “They were holding hands watching a sunset together. If I wanted to illustrate a couple that’s exactly what I would draw.”

“I’m sure that they’re both aware of the others feelings but… they still haven’t made it official,” Riku said.

* _Riiiiing_ *

“So… why are you ignoring your phone?” Namine questioned.

“Because I gave Sora a deadline to ask Kairi out. If he doesn’t then I may have to have a very awkward conversation with Kairi that I really don’t want to have,” Riku said.

“What happened?” Namine asked.

“I promised I wouldn’t say, though it may lead to me having to give Sora the talk,” Riku said.

“I… feel like I don’t want to know,” Namine said confused at his words, “How’s training with Lea and Terra?”

“There’s something holding Terra back a lot, he can either use too much darkness or too little but he’s not finding the balance. I don’t know if it’s because he’s afraid to use it or he’s trying too hard to control it. I don’t know why he asked me to teach him I haven’t been a Master for that long,” Riku said.

“You’ll all be able to figure it out,” Namine said, “It’s still a new concept that you’re dealing with. So much of Master Ansem’s research talks about how terrible the darkness is, but you alone have denied so much of his research. He’s actually a bit disappointed that so much of his work have been proven wrong.”

“Oh I never realized that,” Riku sounded worried and guilty.

“Don’t be, it’s given a lot of us a chance to start over,” Namine said, “and maybe this time we’ll get our studies of the heart right.”

* * *

 Twilight covered the sky, Namine and Riku had decided it was late enough and began walking home. Riku walked with her all the way back to her room inside the castle.

“Will you ask Sora once this… thing you’re doing is over?” Namine asked.

“Yeah, if he does know a place or person that can help we can go together once we’re sure it’s safe to leave this place alone,” Riku said.

“That would be nice,” Namine said, “Same time tomorrow?”

“Yeah, see you then,” Riku said leaving.

“Right, goodnight,” Namine said.

Riku exited her room, Namine went over to her desk and started looking over some of her personal notes before going to bed.

After everything that had happened and with her newfound existence as a somebody Namine had made her choice to try and use her powers for good. She had been the one to coax Riku into seeing the good of a power he saw as evil, she decided she should live up to her own words.

" _Sigh_ More work," Namine said to herself, "But at least Riku will be there tomorrow."

* * *

As Riku exited Namine’s room he saw a Dusk messing with a small vase on a table in the hallway in front of Namine’s room. Reaching into its mouth it pulled out a bushel of white flowers and put them into the vase. The Dusk gave Riku an impromptu salute before walking off.

“Same time tomorrow,” Riku said holding up the ‘Winner’ popsicle stick Namine gave him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: The chapters are going to get longer than they are now don’t worry, just need to get through all the introductions first. Anyway nothing M rated with Namine and Riku yet this relationship will be a bit of a slow burn. 
> 
> The idea of Dusk came to me from the 365/2 days Kingdom Hearts Manga, go give it a read as well as the rest of the Manga it gives so much more insight and dept to the characters and creatures of Kingdom Hearts.


	3. A Fresh Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Doing better on reviews/comments. Glad to see that there are people who are into the new RikuxNamine ship. I didn't feel like the ship would work before since Namine was essentially gone but after all their interactions and being alive I feel that it would work. Next up is the RoxasxXion ship side story.
> 
> Update: Learned something about the Inheritance Ceremony so had to tweak the fic a bit.

Xion went for another one of her lazy strolls through the streets of Twilight town. After rigging a life for herself and her two close friends Roxas and Lea had decided to continue being Keyblade Masters like all of her friends. Xion had opted as well but she had some reservations.

* * *

( _Flashback)_

" _You're certain?" Aqua asked Xion._

_Aqua had offered hew new friends the chance to continue their training to become full Keyblade Masters. Roxas had taken her up on the offe. While Lea appreciated the offer he felt that he would benefit a bit more from Riku's own type of training. Xion of course wanted to follow her friends but was hesitant._

" _Yes," Xion said, "I want to be my own person, and for that I don't want to use this Keyblade anymore," she said holding the Kingdom key._

" _It's still your Keyblade you know," Aqua told her._

" _No… it's just a copy of Sora's that I stole from both him and Roxas. I want to wield my own weapon. I want to be my own person in every way I can," Xion said._

" _You know the process isn't instant, it could take a while. Are you sure you want to wait?" Aqua asked._

" _I'm sure," Xion answered._

"… _you're not going to be jealous of your friends when they get ahead of you in their training right?" Aqua asked sounding worried._

" _What? No, why would I?" Xion questioned._

" _What's that supposed to mean?" Lea questioned._

" _Yeah Xion's not like that," Roxas said._

" _I just… don't want mistakes to be repeated," Aqua said with regret, "Alright then let's do it."_

" _Thank you, what do we do?" Xion questioned._

" _For the Inheritors Ceremony to work you only need to grasp another's Keyblade and through that you will gain the ability to weild a Keyblade," Aqua said._

" _Does it work if you still have a Keyblade?" Roxas questioned._

" _If what you said is true then Xion should get her own ability to wield a Keyblade instead of borrowing one… I think… I don't believe there's ever been a case like this," Aqua said._

" _Ooh Xion hold mine, I'll pass you the power along," Lea said holding out his weapon._

" _What? No she should use mine," Roxas said bringing out both Oblivion and Oathkeeper._

" _No way mine's way cooler looking," Lea argued._

" _I think mine are better, plus she got the power from me the first time it'll probably be a smoother transfer to her," Roxas said._

" _Don't act like you know how this works you just heard it," Lea said._

" _You don't know either," Roxas said._

" _Guys," Xion said, "Can I… hold them both?"_

" _I mean… does it work like that?" Lea asked Aqua._

" _I don't think it'll do any harm, I don't believe anyone's done this before either," Aqua said._

" _Alright, I'm in," Lea held his Keyblade out for her._

" _Wait which one do I use?" Roxas questioned with both his weapons._

" _Just pick one," Lea told him._

" _Uh umm Oh," Roxas gathered both weapons in his hand and held them close together._

" _Hey that's not fair I only have one you can only pick one to," Lea said._

" _Well I can't just pick one for her," Roxas said._

" _Axel it doesn't matter they're both good," Xion said._

" _mnn fine, but I get to pick our next group outing," Lea said._

_Both of her friends held up their Keyblades for her to grasp. Xion held up her hand and held onto both of Roxas's and Lea's weapons. She braced herself waiting to feel something but there was no new sensation of feeling for her._

" _What next?" Xion asked still holding her friends weapons._

" _That's all," Aqua said._

" _That's all?" Xion questioned releasing both of her friends Keyblades._

" _Well sometimes you give a speech about the responsibilities of wielding a Keyblade but I'm pretty sure you know that," Aqua said._

" _Hold on so anyone can just get a Keyblade by touching one?" Lea questioned._

" _Yeah doesn't that seem kind of dangerous?" Roxas asked._

_"There's no true danger, only those who have the power of a Keyblade Master can perform the Inheritance Ceremony _,_ " Aqua said._

_"Wait... so she won't get one from us?" Lea questioned._

_"No," Aqua answered._

_"...Well what the heck why did you make us go through all of that?" Lea said._

_"I guess I didn't have the heart to stop you two from fighting over her," Aqua said bringing out her own Keyblade._

_"Heh, real funny," Lea commented._

_Aqua lowered her own weapon to Xion to allow her to grasp it. Just as before she didn't feel anything happening._

" _So… how long will it take?" Xion asked._

" _It differs from person to person. When my Master did the ceremony it took my almost six years," Aqua said._

" _Six years!?" Xion sounded like she was about to complain_

" _So me and Xion can't practice together for six years?" Roxas asked._

" _I'm certain it won't be nearly that long," Aqua said, "I was a child at the time of my ceremony but for you Xion I'm certain we should see results in a few months. I have no doubt that you're worthy to wield a Keyblade."_

* * *

Despite her decision Xion was still feeling some regret. While she didn't want to use a copied power she also didn't like that now Roxas and Axel were gone in the morning and most of the afternoon training in two separate worlds.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette were back in school meaning she had no friends of her own to spend time with. There was Isa but a part of her needed more time before she would get used to him.

"We're pretty low on food, maybe I should go shopping," Xion thought. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out the little wallet she had been given only to find it empty. "Right," Xion recalled. Since Lea and Roxas were out continuously battling Heartless and other monsters most of the trio's money came from them. They were living fine but it was inconvenient for Xion to have to ask money from her two friends.

Feeling defeated she was about to continue her aimless trek till she noticed the wall. On the old wall was a big sign labeled "Job Postings" with multiple flyers listing different work. Xion felt a bit intrigued and looked at the different things people were asking.

"Ah… this is it, this is how I can still support my friends," Xion said excited at the idea. She took one of the flyers and read the requirements.

"Resume needed?" Xion read aloud, "I can make one of those."

* * *

"Sooo I've been looking over your application, a few things came up that I wanted to ask about," Scrooge McDuck said looking over the resume Xion had made.

Hours later by some luck Xion had found herself in the office of the new popular Bistro of Twilight Town owned by the strange Scroog McDuck. Xion was excited that she had already gotten a call back for a job.

"Is everything alright?" Xion asked worried.

"Yes everything is in order… I believe," Scrooge said, "Just a few key things I wanted to note. Now first thing I noticed is when you entered your date of birth you noted it as 'Approximate'."

"Yes, I'm… not fully sure on that I'm sorry," Xion explained.

"And going by that approximate date, even if it was accurate, you'd be around 2 years old," Scrooge said.

"That's right," Xion answered.

"… and you seem to be serious about this alright next thing," Scrooge said, "Down here in skills you listed combat, espionage, magic, and hunting. What exactly did you hunt?"

"Heartless," Xion answered.

"Nothing weird about that right… right of course not. In your job experience you listed 'Organization XIII' noted that it was a 'predecessor' of a REAL Organization XIII still trying to figure that one out. Your duties included hunting down Heartless, gathering intel, oh and writing post mission reports which surprisingly is something I'd be glad you have experience in," Scrooge said, "And down here in your 'Future Plans' you're here to support your friends until your latent power to summon a Keyblade awakens."

"Yes, I was told that would take many months so I'll be sure to be here a long while," Xion said.

"… You're one of Sora's friends aren't ya?" Scrooge asked.

"Oh yes… well I think, it's complicated but I'm sure he at least sees me as a friend," Xion said.

"Oh I'm sure he does, the lads got a kind heart," Scrooge said, "Now then you haven't sent any more of these resumes out anywhere have ya?"

"No just you for now," Xion said.

"Good," Scrooge took a lighter from his desk flicking it on and letting the flames engulf Xion's resume.

"Wait what are you doing?" Xion panicked watching her application go up in flames

"Look you seem like a nice lass so I should tell you. You're clearly new to being a part of the public aren't you in a new world?" Scrooge said.

"Well… yes I guess I am," Xion answered.

"You know the rules about world travel right?" Scrooge asked.

"I… uh… do not," Xion dejected.

"You need to keep it down with a lot of things. That goes for mentioning magic and other things that happen in other worlds. There's a bit of a danger ruining the world order, things like mentioning magic around here is one big no no," Scrooge said.

"So I shouldn't tell people about other worlds?" Xion asked.

"Yes exactly, there's a balance of knowledge here that keeps the world from going crazy. For example if people figured out magic was a thing they might abuse that knowledge and accidentally blow themselves up. They need to discover magic and other worlds on their own otherwise their own advancements as a world would jumble up around and maybe turn this place into a dystopia. Had to learn that lesson the hard way," Scrooge said.

"So… I could have," Xion suddenly began to feel sick at the idea of accidentally ruining Hayner, Pence, and Olettes world.

"Relax relax, you'd have to actually perform magic in front of people for them to really figure out the truth, and even then they'll probably come up with some other crazy theory of what it was," Scrooge told her.

"Oh thank goodness," Xion said relieved.

"You still need to be careful about what you say. You got anymore copies of what ya gave me?" Scrooge asked.

"Yes, but they're all at my home," Xion said.

"Destroy them all of em," Scrooge said.

"Yes, of course," Xion said.

"Good, glad this didn't turn into a problem," Scrooge said, "Alright then with that bein said ya might be a wee bit overqualified what with you being made to work in a large world traveling criminal organization but you're one of the only ones who's free to work in the mornings so I'll give you a shot."

"Really, thank you!" Xion said happy for the news.

"Eh you're one of Sora's lads and I owe the lad for a bunch of things. Come in early tomorrow take a menu and memorize it. Oh and I'm gonna need your measurements so I can order your uniform," Scrooge said.

* * *

Days later Lea and Terra touched down in the forest just outside of Twilight town. Terra wearing his new armor set riding his old Keyblade in it's flying form. Lea was holding on behind him before jumping off.

"I know we need to keep a low profile but do I have to walk through the sewers every time?" Axel questioned, "Isn't there like a spell that could make us invisible or something?"

"There is, but it doesn't work on armor or clothing," Terra told him.

"Never mind then," Axel said.

A few minutes later Ventus appeared from the sky as well with Roxas holding on behind him with Chirithy holding on as well. As soon as Ventus got close to the ground Chirithy hopped right off and laid flat on the ground.

" _Uggh_ , I hate flying," Chirithy said.

"You don't have to come with me every time you know," Ventus told his companion.

"I don't want to be left alone with Aqua, she hugs me too much," Chirithy said.

"Hey you two, how was training any progress?" Lea asked.

"It was nice, though Ventus is still ahead of me in combat even with two Keyblades," Roxas said.

"It's not the Keyblade-," Ventus started.

"It's the heart that wields it I know, I still think I should be beating you," Roxas said.

"What about you? Have you got control of the darkness yet?" Ventus asked Terra.

"Still stugling with it," Terra said, "I don't know why, the first time it was easy to grasp but now it feels like I'm struggling to get control of it."

"I still think you should just give it up," Chirithy said.

"It's a part of me now, I can't give it up," Terra said.

"I wish you would, you and Lea. It's like your darkness is locked in place just at the tipping point and it freaks me out," Chirithy said.

"Still got it," Lea praised himself.

"It's not a good thing," Chirithy said.

"Well times have changed, the Keywielders have become a pretty progressive people now. Got it Memor-." "YES I've memorized it, _ugh_ you're annoying," Chirithy complained.

"We should be heading off now, we'll see you two tomorrow," Terra said turning his speeder around ready to fly off.

"Whoa whoa wait," Lea called, "Before you go you feel like getting something to eat here? We got a pretty good haul talking down Heartless today."

"I could eat," Ventus said.

"It would be nice to have a break before flying again," Chirithy said.

"Well… I suppose I could pick something up for Aqua," Terra said returning his Keyblade to normal and stowing his armor in his shoulder.

"That's great, you gotta try this restaurant we got here it's great," Lea said.

"Oh, I'll call Xion," Roxas said.

* * *

"She's still not picking up," Roxas said worried. The five of them had already made the trek through the sewers and managed to get a table at Le Grand Bistrot.

"That's weird she usually can't wait for us to get home," Lea said.

"You don't think something's wrong do you?" Ventus asked.

"Roxas order my usual," Lea said getting up out of his seat, "I'm gonna check our place I'll be right… oh?"

"What?" Roxas asked.

"Think I found her," Lea pointed over to the other side of the restaurant.

At one of the tables Xion was taking down an order for a group of people. She was dressed in a red waitress uniform. Short sleeved with a white collar shirt underneath, the skirt reached down to her knees and she wore a small white apron.

"Is that… Xion?" Roxas questioned.

"She working here?" Ventus questioned.

"She didn't tell us about this," Roxas said.

Xion finished writing down the order looked up from her notepad. She saw Lea and Roxas with Ventus, Terra, and Chirithy. Roxas and Lea waved to her but Xion froze on the spot with a look of terror, she turned right around and headed right through the doors into the kitchen.

"That was… weird," Roxas said.

"Well bless me bagpipes it's you," Scrooge McDuck approached the table of keywielders.

"Scrooge?" Ventus questioned.

"Ah ya do remember me," Scrooge McDuck said.

"You know him?" Terra questioned.

"Yeah, he was in Radiant Garden, he gave me those passes to Disney Town," Ventus said.

"Ah glad to see you remember me after so long, ya don't look like you've aged a day. Ya didn't get cursed with immortality did ya," Scrooge asked.

"What? No it was… something else," Ventus said.

"And is this your brother," Scrooge questioned looking over at Roxas.

"Uh, no actually," Roxas said.

"Cousin?" Scrooge asked.

"We're not actually related in any way," Roxas answered.

"… okay… that's a new one," Scrooge said.

"Hey uh buddy, who are you?" Lea questioned.

"Ah how rude of me, I'm Scrooge McDuck owner of this fine Bistro," Scrooge introduced himself.

"You own this place?" Ventus asked.

"Yes it was a spur of the moment, I met a nice chef saw an opportunity and I took it. Been one of my most lucrative surprises so far," Scrooge said.

"Say, why was our friend Xion working here?" Lea asked Scrooge.

"Oh so you're the little lass's friends she care about," Scrooge said, "Well my place has become such a success I had to hire more help, and Xion has been one of my newest and dare I say best employees."

"She applied?" Lea questioned, "So she doesn't owe you anything?"

"Oh no nothing of the sort, she's been a great help," Scrooge said, "Though knowing her ya might want to give her a bit of a talk."

"A talk about what?" Lea asked.

"Take a look around, ever since Xion showed up she's attracting a bit of a specific crowd," Scrooge said.

Lea took a look around the place and started to notice the majority of the crowd.

"I don't see anything," Terra said.

"There's a lot of men here," Lea said.

"Ah yer a sharp one," Scrooge said, "Mysterious shy and kind girl shows up out of no where, and with hair as dark as her's she's a rare exotic site for a lot of men. Used to have a more couples coming here but ever since she came… well she's been getting a lot of attention."

"She has? Xion?" Roxas questioned.

"Bit of advice, ya might want to give her a backstory and tell her to hide the truth about who she is," Scrooge told Lea.

"Wait… how much do you know?" Lea asked suddenly worried.

"Enough to know that she didn't come into the world like a lot of people," Scrooge said, "Ah but don't worry I won't go saying anything, I've seen this story before something artificial into the world wants to be human… I mean the times I saw it it was usually some robot and usually they would try to wipe out all organic life, but Xion's a nice lass she clearly deserves a chance."

"Well… thanks for not saying anything," Lea said.

"Again tell her the rules about protecting the world order, and the other talk you might want to explain why she should talk to all men who are friendly to her. She's only two years old I don't think she's ready for a relationship," Scrooge said.

"What? She's not-… huh… oh yeah I guess she is just two technically," Lea said.

"Wait Xion's only two?" Roxas questioned.

"Is that how it works for Nobodies when they're born?" Ventus questioned.

"No but she's wasn't exactly a Nobody," Lea said, "Oh man she doesn't know a lot of things about people… _UGH_ I'm gonna have to give her the talk aren't I, this is going to suck."

"Yup, have fun with that. Try not to scar her young mind I need her focused tomorrow it's the weekend," Scrooge said.

* * *

Xion exited the Bistro through the rear entrance at the end of the long day. As she left she saw Lea and Roxas were already there waiting for her.

"Hey Xion," Lea said.

"Axel Roxas," Xion said, "So… you know now," she stated.

"Yup, how long have you been working here?" Lea asked.

"Only a few days, usually I don't work this late but they needed someone to cover them," Xion said.

"Why didn't you tell us you were working now?" Roxas asked.

"I was hoping to surprise the two of you on my first pay day, I wanted to get some stuff for our home and surprise you two," Xion said.

"You know we're not that strapped for cash right?" Lea said.

"I know but I didn't want to just sit around waiting for my new Keyblade to appear. I wanted to be useful in some way. You're not mad right?" Xion asked.

"Course not. We're not in charge of you Xion, you can do whatever you want," Lea said, "So since you're done with work who's up for Ice cream?"

"That sounds good, work has been tiring," Xion said.

"So… the old duck tells me you've been getting a lot of attention," Lea said.

"Oh yes a lot of people have been asking me out," Xion said.

"You said no to them right?" Roxas asked.

"Well I had to, I was working," Xion said, "But a lot of guys did give me their numbers," Xion reached into her pocket and pulled out a bushel of receipts with numbers on them.

Lea took them all from Xion's hand and magically burned them all.

"Hey what was that for?" Xion questioned annoyed.

" _Sigh_ , Xion I think we should have a talk," Lea put a hand on her shoulder and guided her to their usual hangout spot.

Roxas followed behind but felt a piece of paper crumble under his foot, one of the phone numbers Xion had been given had survived. Roxas quickly took the piece of paper giving it a harsh glare before shredding it up.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: As I worte this I couldn't help be imagine the 2017's rebooted Scrooge McDuck taking the place of the Kingdom Hearts McDuck.
> 
> So this was the Roxas Xion chapter I'm sure people can see how I'm going to get Roxas jealous, I didn't get a chance to give them enough of an interaction but they'll get it. Xion to me definitely wouldn't have knowledge of regular social interaction considering her only interaction was with Organization XIII Next up is Aqua and Terra and then I start moving the story along.


	4. Home Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Getting a little more attention on both sites. Just need to keep up this pace and see what else I can get. Had to make a few changes last chapter a commenter told me the rules of the inheritance ceremony, didn't know that since all I had was Wikipedia at the time.

In the land of departure Aqua summoned more sphere's of light sending them to two of her current students Roxas and Ventus. She wanted to have the two of them spar each other while focusing on outside interference. Roxas kept up his flurry of attacks but Ventus kept up his defense. A couple of light orbs tried to knock themselves into the two and they jumped away from each other.

"Remember you two have more than just physical attacks," Aqua called out.

Roxas raised both of his Keyblades up spun them in front of himself sending a pulse of dark and light at Ventus.

" **Wind**!" Ventus summoned a whirlwind in front of him that sucked up two of the orbs around him shielding him from Roxas's attack. Roxas then shot himself forward quickly turning into a streak of light.

" **Barrier** ," Ventus summoned a shield around himself letting Roxas bash himself against the glass like dome. Roxas recoiled but he got back into his fighting stance.

"Enough, we're done," Aqua called out dispersing the light orbs.

"What? I can keep going," Roxas said.

"Not while you're bleeding," Aqua told him.

"What?" Roxas pat himself and felt a wet spot under his nose seeing a patch of blood, "oh. Must have hit that barrier too hart."

"Sorry," Ventus apologized.

"Roxas you have a lot of power, especially for one so young but you can't keep doing the head on approach it just makes you more predictable and you just keep hurting yourself," Aqua instructed.

"Yes master Aqua," Roxas answered.

"I believe that's enough for today, let's get you fixed up," Aqua said to Roxas.

* * *

Aqua watched from the castle gardens as both Ventus and Roxas took off into the sky. Chirithy had arrived just in time to grab onto Ventus before he flew off despite the creatures dislike of though he knew what would happen if he was left alone with Aqua. Aqua took a quiet walk around the castle patrolling for any signs of Heartless or any other enemies that would have been around since her worlds transformation into Castle Oblivion.

When she found nothing she returned back into her home, her entrance echoed loudly in vast halls.

" _Sigh…_ why did they have to leave me alone," Aqua questioned.

* * *

_(Flashback)_

_Terra, Ventus, and Aqua gathered together in their usual spot outside the castle_

" _I've decided to stay and look over our home," Aqua told her friends._

" _You're just going to stay here from now on?" Ventus asked._

" _Well there's always going to be something that might need my attention nearby, but yes. This was our home and now that our Master is gone this place needs someone else to look after it," Aqua said, "Not to mention you still need someone to teach you to become a master."_

" _Really? Shouldn't I be one already with everything we've been through?" Ventus questioned._

" _Sorry but it doesn't work that way, and what you don't want to spend any time with me?" Aqua teased him._

" _Fine fine I'll go," Ventus answered._

" _Speaking of which… I've decided to restart my own training," Terra spoke._

" _What?" Ventus cried out._

" _You're going to start over? But you're already so close to being a Master now," Aqua said._

" _I know, but… after everything that happened I know that there's still darkness in me. I need to get control of it so that nothing like what we've been through ever happens again. I need to make sure that I make no more stupid mistakes," Terra said._

" _But Xehanorts gone," Ventus said._

" _Maybe, but there's no guarantee that someone else won't come along, or that I'll lose control of myself I need to be ready and I need to control my own power," Terra said._

" _Well… I suppose it won't take too long for you to become a Master you're already really strong," Aqua said, "And… this might be fun, the three of us can spend a lot more time together."_

" _Actually… I've asked Master Riku to train me," Terra admitted._

" _Riku, you want to train with him?" Aqua questioned._

" _Wait but isn't Riku younger than you?" Ventus asked._

" _He's fully mastered control of the Darkness without losing his light, I want to learn how to control mine," Terra said._

" _What? No Terra," Aqua felt afraid at his words, "There's no more fighting anymore, you can just give up on the darkness you don't need it's power."_

" _I can't just cast it aside anymore," Terra said, "The darkness has been inside my heart for too long, it might have been a part of me all this time. It's essential that I learn how to control it."_

" _We can figure something out, you don't need to rely on this power. Do you think Master would want for you to go down this path?" Aqua argued._

" _In the past maybe not… but things have changed, even he knew that and I've spoken to Master Yen Sid about this and he didn't find any reason to object to it," Terra told them._

"… _fine," Aqua gave in defeated, "But… I won't like this," she said._

" _I'm sorry," Terra said._

" _Hey hey, you still have me to teach," Ventus said trying to cheer Aqua up._

" _I know thank you," Aqua said._

" _Hey sooo," Chirithy called out being held in Aqua's arms, "Are you done hugging me yet?"_

" _No," Aqua pouted hugging Chirithy tighter._

" _You know that I don't belong to you right?" Chirithy asked._

" _Ventus can share," Aqua said._

" _Sorry," Ventus apologized to Chirithy._

" _Ugh," Chirithy groaned._

* * *

"They'll be back soon," Aqua said to herself.

Ever since her return to the realm of light and reuniting with her friends there were times when she would feel stressed. It was only during this time of the days on her training days when Ventus was off taking Roxas back home and Terra would meet him there. Aqua found nothing to do and nothing to occupy her time. She found herself in the large throne room just sitting by waiting for the sound of the door to open that would signal her friends return.

"They'll be back soon," Aqua said to herself again.

The twilight orange glow of the sun setting shined through the windows they stretched across the floor. Aqua had grown a fascination at watching the light slowly move across the floor, the later in the day the longer the light. Time still passed and she saw that the light was beginning to fade. Terra and Ventus always returned before dark Aqua believed that they would return at any moment.

"They'll be back soon," Aqua said once again.

The twilight orange glow of the castle began to dim and dark. Aqua huddled herself on the large chair, she gathered her legs together and hugged herself as the day began to turn to night.

"What's taking them so long?" Aqua questioned, "Maybe I should call them."

Aqua took out her Gummi phone and gave Terra a call.

"No answer," Aqua decided to give Ventus a call.

"No answer," Aqua realized.

Aqua looked around, the light was gone it was night. The very large room was quiet and dark and Aqua knew that the only light switches were placed at the opposite end of the room.

"Why did he make the room like this, I need to arrange this place," Aqua complained beginning her trek. Each step she took echoed her loud steps reminding her that she was alone in the castle.

No one around.

Alone.

"They'll be here soon," Aqua said.

" _You're all alone_."

"My friends will be here soon."

" _Alone."_

"I'm not alone."

" _What do they need you for_?"

"Stop it!" Aqua shook her head.

" _Terra didn't need you what will happen when Ventus is done with you_?"

"There's plenty left for us to do."

" _They're fine without you like they always were_."

"STOP!"

"Aqua?"

The lights below turned on and the sound of the large doors opening echoed through the hall. Aqua shook her head and hurried downstairs. There she sees that Terra and Ventus had just entered their home.

"Hey Aqua," Ventus greets.

"You two are late!" Aqua sounded as though she was about to panic and cry.

"Oh… uh sorry didn't know that you were expecting us to come right home," Terra apologizes.

"No I mean, no you weren't… nevermind, where were you?" Aqua questioned in a more normal tone.

"…Is everything alright?" Ventus asked.

"Yes… yes everything is fine it's just, you two always come at a specific time," Aqua said.

"Lea invited us to a restaurant in Twilight Town," Terra said.

"Yeah we kind of lost a bit of extra time when we found out Xion was secretly working there. Oh and the nice guy who gave us those passes to Disney Town lives there and owns the place," Ventus said.

"You went out to eat… without me?" Aqua suddenly felt a bit hurt by this.

"We also got you some take out," Chirithy popped up behind the two holding a large box over his head. Aqua picked up the offering, "Just the box please- oh for," Aqua held the small box in one hand and picked up Chirithy with her other arm.

"Why didn't you answer your gummi phones?" Aqua questioned.

"I can't reach my pockets when I'm wearing armor," Terra said.

"Oh… right that makes sense," Aqua said.

"… well… if everything's okay I'm going to go. Me and Sora are battling each other," Ventus said taking out his Gummi Phone.

"Okay then… don't stay up too late," Aqua said.

"I won't good night," Ventus said.

"… I guess I'll just eat my dinner then," Aqua said to herself.

"You don't need to hug me for this," Chirithy said annoyed as it was carried off to the kitchen.

* * *

Sitting alone in the kitchen Aqua ate her meal. Her friends had brought back some Sea Bass with other fixes in it wrapped in paper and a small pile of stacked tomato, eggplant, and zucchini. Aqua was glad that her friends remembered the kinds of food she liked. As she ate Chirithy just laid on her lap asleep and tired from complaining.

"So how is it?" Terra asked entering the kitchen.

"Oh it's… surprisingly amazing I wish I had tasted this when it was out of the kitchen," Aqua said.

"We still have any more tea?" Terra asked grabbing a mug and searching the cabinets.

"Ah no I haven't been able to go out till we're all sure it's safe," Aqua said.

"Oh, well I'll pick some up next training day," Terra said.

"No that's fine, I'll go," Aqua said.

"… Has everything been alright? Roxas and Ventus haven't been giving you trouble have they?" Terra asked.

"No they've been well behaved, Ventus is taking up lessons perfectly but Roxas is still too reckless. I have to keep reminding him that there are other strategies than a full frontal assault," Aqua said.

"Well that's to be expected, Ventus has had years of training and Roxas… I don't know where he trained but I'm assuming he has the same self taught skill as Sora," Terra said.

"But even Sora knows how to block and dodge," Aqua said, "How is your training going?"

"I've hit a bit of a block," Terra said, "Even Riku doesn't understand it but getting control of the Darkness is still difficult. I try to let it out it becomes too powerful, if I try to control it then I can't let it out to be effective."

"You're not going to lose control are you?" Aqua asked.

"No, Riku has been constantly checking and he hasn't seen any sign that I'll lose myself. Even Chirithy agrees that I'm safe he says that the Darkness is locked in place it's not going to overflow my heart," Terra said, "Once I have control though I'll be able to earn the tittle of Master."

"… Have you decided what you'll do once you become a Master?" Aqua asked.

"Well first I'll want to go and help fix any problems that might have happened from our whole adventure, after that I'll figure it out," Terra said.

"Right," Aqua said softly going back to her meal.

* * *

One of the positive things about the castle was the large bathroom's as well as the Jacuzzi sized bathtubs. Aqua used up the last of her bubble bath and let the running water fill up. Undoing the buckle of her x shaped straps she removed the emblem and let the pink belts fall to the ground. She undid the strap in the back of the collar of her one piece and peeled the top off. Shimmying her body she pushed her leotard down along with the stockings on her legs lifting one out the leg hole before kicking everything off with her other foot.

"I don't need a bath- UGH!" Chirithy complained as Aqua held the small creature close to her bare chest.

Aqua slipped in the water and let the warmth envelop her body.

"Hey Chirithy," Aqua said.

"What?" Chirithy groaned.

"You're certain that Terra isn't going to lose himself to the darkness?" Aqua asked.

"I'm definitely not seeing any signs of that happening any time soon. I don't know how he's doing it but his heart is holding darkness not enough to corrupt him but if her were to take in any more he could be in trouble," Chirithy said.

"So he is in danger?" Aqua asked.

"I don't think so, I've seen him get frustrated and mad. Usually that gives the darkness a chance to grow but his doesn't even pulse up. I don't know what it is but I think it would take something really stressful to even get close to him losing himself," Chirithy said.

" _sigh_ ," Aqua sighed knowing that there was nothing she could say to convince Terra to stop using darkness.

"You don't like that he's training to use the darkness," Chirithy stated.

"It's… it goes against everything we've been taught our whole lives," Aqua said, "For so long we're told to never give into the darkness, never give in to anger and hate, and that light was the true path to take. I know it's not Terra's intention but I feel like he's going against our Master."

"You need to stop worrying about that," Chirithy told her.

"I know but I can't help but worry," Aqua said.

"No I mean you need to stop feeling this before something happens," Chirithy told her.

"I… what?" Aqua questioned.

"Every time you talk to Terra about this you start to let in a tiny bit of darkness I can sense a bit of it fester," Chirithy said.

"I have!?" Aqua was surprised at what Chirithy told her.

"It'll take a while, but you should stop worrying. I'm more afraid of you losing yourself than I am of Terra right now," Chirithy said.

"I… I didn't notice," Aqua stared to sound afraid. She stood up from the bath and started to check over herself.

"Whoa whoa wait Aqua," Chirithy called out falling into the water.

"I'm supposed to be the Master of this castle but I can't even notice that I'm losing myself-." * _SPLASH_ *

Chirithy splashed some bubbly water right in Aqua's face.

"You're doing it again," Chirithy told her.

"Right… right sorry," Aqua sat back down in the tub, "I just… need to regain myself."

"Look like I told you it's a weak amount so you're not in danger, but you need to stop worrying so much," Chirithy told her.

"Of course… of course," Aqua said trying to calm down.

"Good… can I leave now?" Chirithy asked.

"Not while the water's still warm," Aqua grabbed Chirithy and hug it.

" _Groan_ , I bet Ventus never had to put up with this," Chirithy complained cushioned against Aqua's breast.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdta: So there's all the intro chapters. I think you can see where I'm going to go with Aqua. I like that they put Chirithy into the game he's a great sensory character to use and I feel like Aqua would show her girly side to a cute creature like Chirithy. Anyway be sure to review and comment and I'll update when I'm ready next time.


	5. Just a Taste

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: What the heck happened my reviews/comments went way down from before what did I do? Well I'm still going to keep going and write, I still haven't gotten into the M/E stuff. I got plans and I spend a lot of thinking time altering these plans I just need to get a story set. We're back with Sora and Kairi this time.

Kairi shifted nervously walking towards school dressed in her usual blue striped uniform. Holding her school bag close to her legs and keeping her head down. Ever since yesterday she hadn't of been able to forget the look Sora gave her when she… it was too embarrassing to even recite in her head and not nearly as humiliating when he-.

" _NNghNgh_!" Kairi clasped both hands on her now red face but the memory of what she felt was still there. It was brief but his nose had pressed right in between her legs perfectly. The tip of his nose had moved up perfectly that Kairi could feel him move right up right to her most sensitive spot that Kairi had been shocked at the feeling. It had only been for a second but Kairi felt a slight tension of bliss.

"Stop it stop it!" Kairi shook her head to get rid of the thoughts.

"Hey-." " _EEP_!" Kairi almost jumped straight up from Selphie's greeting.

"Oh sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Selphie apologized.

"I'm fine, don't worry," Kairi told her.

"Uh, are you sick? Your face looks a little red," Selphie said.

"Uh- no no I'm fine," Kairi looked away trying to look relaxed and keep Selphie from noticing anything else.

"What are you wearing?" Selphie questioned noticing Kairi's legs. Black skintight shorts were reaching down from underneath her miniskirt reaching past mid thigh, "Are those spats?" she asked.

"Oh uh… I was feeling a bit cold," Kairi lied.

"It's nearly summer, on our tropical climate island… actually I don't know what kind of climate our island has but it's definitely not too cold," Selphie said.

"I just felt like trying something new," Kairi said.

"You look ridiculous black does not go that well with blue," Selphie said.

"I think it- _EEK_!" Kairi tried to defend her choice but Selphie was already tugging Kairi's spats down her legs, "What are you doing!?"

"Take em off you look way better without them," Selphie said ignoring Kairi's protest.

"No NO STOP!" Kairi's spats reached down to her knees before she grabbed them by the elastic waistband.

"What? Are you just wearing these cause you're out of underwear?" Selphie questioned still trying to get the shorts off of Kairi.

"No I have underwear on!" Kairi yelled at her.

"uh?"

During the fight Kairi was fully unaware that Sora had arrived at their usual meeting spot. When he arrived he thought he heard Kairi being attacked but to his surprise he saw Selphie trying to get a part of shorts off of Kairi as she proclaimed to be wearing underwear.

Sora and Kairi just stared at each other for a second before Sora looked down towards Kairi's legs. Without saying anything Sora turned around and started walking towards School and away from Kairi.

"It's not… _ugh_ ," Kairi tried to say something but Sora was already long out of earshot.

"oooooooOOOOOOH!" Selphie let out a long wail of excitement.

"No please," Kairi groaned.

"Something happened between you two," Selphie concluded, "and it's something sexually awkward."

"For the love of Light Selphie please don't say that," Kairi buried her face in her hands out of shame.

"You want to put your spats back on?" Selphie asked pointing to the shorts still hanging around Kairi's knees.

"YES!" Kairi yelled at her quickly pulling the spats back up.

"Wait, Sora hasn't been trying to peek on you has he?" Selphie asked.

"NO! Sora would never do that!" Kairi was shocked at what Selphie said.

"Yeah he is pretty nice," Selphie tried to think of something else that would lead to the two being awkward.

"Can we just go to school we're going to be late," Kairi said.

"Fine, but this isn't the end we are talking about this at lunch!" Selphie declared.

* * *

Kairi poked at her leftovers from home, usually she was glad for the break from her normal studies and lunch was a great time to talk with her friends, including Sora. But today she was sitting alone at the moment unable to look up. Sora and Kairi had once again tried to reconnect but all it took was an awkward look at each other to turn right around.

" _nnnngh_ ," Kairi whined miserably shoving her food to the side to let her face fall on the table.

* **SLAM** * a tray of mystery cafeteria brand food slammed onto the table right next to Kairi.

"And now the best part of the day can begin," Selphie proclaimed taking a seat next to Kairi who was still face down, "Soooo, tell me what happened. What made the literal perfect couple on the island feel so weird next to each other?"

" _Mighy no monna falk afuot mit_ ," Kairi mumbled through the plastic table.

"Okay I know I'm monologuing like an evil person but seriously you're miserable and talking about will help," Selphie said.

"You're just saying that so I'll tell you," Kairi turned her head towards Selphie.

"Yes that's very true, but that doesn't make what I'm saying any less true," Selphie told her.

" _Ugh_ , me and Sora were hanging out on the island," Kairi lifted her head up.

"Yeah… and?" Selphie leaned in waiting for her response.

"The two of us fell into the water and… well my shirt is see through when wet," Kairi said.

"Yes YES! Aaaaannd!?" Selphie prodded.

"I may have fallen on top of Sora… right on top of his face… in my school uniform," Kairi said.

"Oooh, that's pretty embarrassing. I always worry about something like that happening why do we wear these short things?" Selphie questioned looking down her leg, "What happened next?" she asked.

"Well… the two of us couldn't really face each other after that and went home," Kairi said.

"And then!?" Selphie asked.

"Well nothing I went home," Kairi said.

"… that's it? You flashed him and, if I'm imagining the story right, he stuck his face in your panties? Wait is that why he has a black eye? Did you punch him?" Selphie questioned suddenly disappointed.

"Don't say it that loud! And it was more like kick," Kairi admitted.

"So it did happen like that," Selphie said.

"Please don't say that," Kairi was mortified at her words.

"Kairi this is a good thing, you'd be amazed at how hard it is to find a guy who'd do that for a woman," Selphie said.

"That's absolutely not what was happening," Kairi told her.

"Also you two are together now, you can't tell me that you didn't think of doing something like that with him," Selphie said.

"No," Kairi said.

"You've never thought about making out with Sora?" Selphie questioned.

"I mean… no… we kind of just started dating. I mean we haven't even kissed yet," Kairi said

"Wha- seriously? Have you seen Sora recently? He is a hunk!" Selphie said, "Honestly if everyone didn't know how much you two love each other every other girl on this island would go after him, heck if you gave me permission I'd go after him. Tidus and Wakka have been wasting their time at the Gym every day just to be like Sora who is somehow leanly ripped. What's his workout routine?"

"Fighting for his life," Kairi said annoyed, "… and for me," she said dejectedly.

"Which means you owe him for all the times he's risked his life for you and he expects you to pay him back in a 'certain way'… now that I say that out loud none of that sounds like Sora," Selphie said.

"I'm fully aware," Kairi said annoyed at her words.

"Which means you need to make the first move for him," Selphie concluded, "Besides you gave him a taste, any day now he'll want more."

"Wha-NO!" Kairi yelled at what Selphie suggested.

"He saw you in a state of undress this morning… well undressed while being over dressed but he's defintally having thoughts about how undressed you were," Selphie teased.

"Sora's not like that!" Kairi said defensively.

"He's a guy Kairi, albeit the most goody vanilla guy you'll ever meet but a guy none the less, and with a body like yours he'll want some from you eventually. He's probably thinking that right now as he avoids eye contact," Selphie said.

"I can't understand half of what you said but I know that Sora isn't the kind of person to think like that," Kairi said.

"Really. Then why can't you two look at each other after what happened?" Selphie questioned.

"That-… it's just complicated between us right now," Kairi said annoyed.

"Why else would he be embarrassed to talk to you?" Selphie questioned.

"Because… _ehhhhhhhhh_ ," Kairi thought she knew the answer, but now she was questioning it.

"Is it possibly because he may have seen something he liked-?" "Shut up shut up shut up!" Kairi tried to ignore her friends answers.

"Kairi this kind of thing is a part of relationships, I mean what did you expect was going to happen when you got together? That you two would hold hands, kiss, and absolutely nothing else for the rest of your life?" Selphie said.

"… yes," Kairi said quietly.

"Oh Kairi, you're too pure for this world… which makes sense since you're a pure light princess… or something," Selphie said, "You know what? I think it's time."

"Time for what?" Selphie said.

"There's something I want to show you at my home that may explain everything," Selphie said.

"That's… alright Selphie, I'm sure I'll be fine," Kairi said not wanting to be involved in whatever crazy thing Selphie was going to get her involved in.

* * *

"How does she keep convincing me to follow her!?" Kairi wondered sitting on Selphie's bed. After school her friend practically dragged her to her house and into her room. When they got there Selphie started rummaging through her closet looking for a certain thing.

"Okay so I have this book you should read," Selphie started.

"I'm not reading your vampire werewolf love story," Kairi said.

"Not that one," Selphie said holding a book, "This one."

"Adventure's rescue?" Kairi read. The book was a small paperback with an image of two people, a man and a woman, in some light knight gear following a trail in the mountains up to an obviously evil castle somehow hidden in shade with bats flying above, "This looks pretty tacky."

"It's a story about an adventure couple who go on a quest together, read it and all you need to know about romance and what they do," Selphie told her.

"You know you could have just brought this over at school," Kairi said.

"Ehhhhh… that would have been a bit risky," Selphie said.

"How is that risky?" Kairi asked.

"Just take this book with you and read it… alone," Selphie ordered.

"And this will fix things with Sora and I? You know the problem I've been having?" Kairi asked her.

"Yes… in a way," Selphie said.

"What-? Is this going to help or not?" Kairi asked confused at her statement.

"It will… in a way," Selphie said.

"… you know what I'm obviously not going to meet Sora at the Island tonight so I might as well read," Kairi said taking the book.

* * *

Kairi sat alone in her room with the book Selphie had given her. Usually she and Sora would meet up in their usual spot and just spend the day talking. It was relaxing and gave her a sense of normalcy in her recently strange and reality questioning life. Today however she couldn't make the effort to even meet him at the docks their awkward encounter was still too much to bear.

The book Selphie gave her wasn't too terrible, it skipped a lot of plot points and just simplified the characters backstory a lot though. Two kids who grew up in an orphanage together grow up to become mercenaries in their kingdom. Nothing interesting or original but Kairi would take any excuse to say she missed their meet up… if Sora had the courage to try to make their meet up.

" _Ugh_ of course he would though, he'd do anything for me and I can't even face him," Kairi groaned as she read her book.

* * *

_Terry and Krystal began their trek to the evil wizards fortress to save the princess of their kingdom. The journey would take three days by foot even with few rest stops in between. Hopefully the princess would be able to resist the advances of the wizards._

* * *

"Resist his advances?" Kairi questioned.

* * *

_Night began to fall and the two adventurers had decided to lay camp for the night. Terry had already laid out his sleeping mat for the night and was about to doze off to sleep. Krystal did not give Terry a chance and fell right on top of him laying her body along his._

" _Still can't sleep?" Terry asked his friend._

" _No… we've been doing nothing but travel and you and I haven't had a chance to do anything together," Krystal said tracing her fingers along her friends chest._

* * *

"Oh so they're lovers… I think? Calling each other friend does make it hard to tell," Kairi thought out loud.

* * *

" _Well I'm too tired after all that walking, if you wish to indulge yourself go ahead but don't expect me to do anyting," Terry said._

_Despite her friends laziness Krystal was happy enough. She stood up and began undoing the straps of her armor letting the metal plating fall to the ground._

_Bunching up her tunics skirt she reached underneath and pulled panties down to her ankles-_

* * *

"What?"

* * *

_Krystal undid the belt of her friend pulling his pants down allowing his fully erect member-_

* * *

"WAH!" Kairi cried out and threw the book across the room like it was on fire. She was suddenly blushing even more than she previously was from her earlier encounters. "Why? WHY did she think this would help!?" Kairi questioned. She went over to where she threw Selphie's book. Picking it up between two fingers as though she was picking up something gross she tried to find the part of the book Selphie had somehow gotten her to miss. Down in the corner of the back of the book she saw the "+18" symbol giving a clear sign of what this book was about.

"Selphie you… RRRGH," Kairi grunted in anger.

Kairi looked down at the adult novel, she knew she should just put it in her bag and return it to Selphie . Ignore what she had read and try to fix whatever was wrong with her and Sora at the moment but she was already a chapter in and talking to Sora about what happened still seemed very unappealing. Not to mention that despite the contents a part of her wanted to know if Terry and Krystal were together.

"I'll just skip a few pages I'm sure it's not all smut," Kairi opened back up to her original spot in the book and moved ahead a few pages.

* * *

_Inside the evil wizard Garlands Dungeon Princess Sarah recently kidnapped from her room hung from her chained up arms cuffed together above her head. Two more chains bolted in the floor from her sides cuffed around her ankles keeping her legs spread out. The three chains were taut forcing princess Sarah into an uncomfortable stretched out position. The evil wizard stood before her but princess Sarah showed no fear or discomfort._

" _I have waited a long time for this princess," Garland said._

" _What do you want? I told you I will not help you," Princess Sarah spat at her captor._

" _You will give me what I want, the magic that resides in the crystal you will unleash its power for me. With it I can complete my time Magic and rule this world," Garland said, "You know I will go through any means to convince you, you might as well spare yourself and submit to me."_

" _Never," Princess Sarah said, "Torture me however you like but I will not betray my Kingdom."_

" _Then you have brought this upon yourself. I will force you to submit to me any way I can," Garland said raising a hand to the princess._

_Princess Sarah's dress was suddenly engulfed in a magical fire but she continued to glare defiantly. The dress she wore was soon charred black and tattered but Princess Sarah's porcelain white skin remained unharmed from the magic._

" _You will no longer be permitted clothing while you are my prisoner," Garland declared._

_Soon Princess Sarah's beautiful gown was reduced to ashes, her large breast-_

* * *

"No no no," Kairi quickly shuffled the pages when the heat from her face reminded her that this was something she didn't want to read.

* * *

_Terry and Krystal fought a pack of Goblins in the night that had nearly caught the two off guard. Krystal and Terry had to act fast and were forced to fight in their current state without their armor. Krystal's breast swayed and swung with every stab of her knives-_

* * *

"Skip skip," Kairi declared as she moved ahead even further into the book.

* * *

_For nearly the whole day Garland kept up his torture of the Princess. Princess Sara tried to resist moaning as the Slime creature traveled along her body. The monster slid across her erect nipples-_

* * *

Kairi flipped a few more pages.

* * *

_Thanks to their new Chocobo friend the two adventures knew they would reach the evil Wizards Castle in no time. The two rode atop the pillowy down of the large bird taking full advantage of their friends bed like back and constant vibrations. Krystal faced Terry sitting on his lap as the light hopping of the Chocobo trotting let her easily slid up and down Terry's massive dick with little effort on her part. They had traveled for a mere hour but she had cum more than four times-_

* * *

" _mnnnnn_ ," Kairi moaned in embarrassment realizing she had read a little more than she intended that time.

* * *

_Princess Sarah cried out, spread out with four chains holding out her arms and legs she was stuck on a large stone slap spread eagle as though she were a sacrificial lamb ready to be offered. For more than a day Garland tortured the pricess well early in the morning. The curse Garland had placed on her prevented her from reaching orgasm even once. Her nipples stood erect begging to be touched, her clitoris had engorged to a ruby red from the lack of relief. The plant monster Garland summoned caressed the underside of her breast-_

* * *

"How much longer till they just get back to talking?" she questioned flipping even more pages than before.

* * *

_Krystal struggled but it was no use. With ropes tied around both her wrist two of Garlands gargoyles carried her high into the sky out of Terry's reach. Even if she could get loose she would certainly fall to her death. She hung her head in defeat as she hung in the air the chilly winds rushed past her causing her nipples to become erect, the moisture of her pussy chilled in the wind-_

* * *

"Wait she got captured and not Terry?" Kairi questioned, "Why is it always the women being treated like damsels? And why is she naked?" she said flipping just a few pages back.

* * *

_Krystal and Terry washed their bodies in the lake-_

* * *

"Of course," Kairi said skipping more pages.

* * *

 _The collar around Krystal's and Sarah's neck was connected by a short chain forcing the two captives to face each other closely and bring their breast together squishing and rubbing their nipples against their will. Their arms cuffed behinds their backs effectively made_ the _two defenseless as Garland forced the two to sit on the cold stone floor, their legs criss crossed past each other making his captives scissor each other. Princess Sarah blushed feeling the moisture from her fellow captives pussy flow down her own moist pussy._

_Using his magic Garland summoned a small snake with two heads on both long ends. Garland placed the creature near the prisoners and allowed it to slither towards the two._

_Both women cried out as they felt the snake bury one head into each of their vaginal openings. Their hissing caused vibrations within the wet warm walls that made both prisoners shudder, the snakes licked with their forked tongues testing the temperature and tickling a particular spot that made both women cry out in pleasure._

_Krystal had been cursed by the same curse that prevented Princess Sarah from cumming. She was not used to this torture and cried out questioning why she would not orgasm._

_After over two days of non-stop torture Princess Sarah was dying for release, her tongue limped from her mouth from her desire for-_

* * *

Kairi leaned back to look away from the book, that time she realized she stuck around way longer than before. For some reason she couldn't face away as quickly as that time. Perhaps after reading so many perverted scenes she had gotten used to the idea of sex. Regardless Kairi skipped even more pages.

* * *

_Terry slashed the dungeon door in two and was greeted to the sight of his partner Krystal and Princess Sarah. Both chained with their arms above their head and legs chained apart and spread and still very much naked._

" _Krystal?" Terry cried in relief, "are you alright?"_

" _I'm fine, what of the evil wizard Garland?" Krystal spoke as Terry examined the chains that held the two women in place._

" _He is no more, thankfully the charm you gave me allowed me to get the upper hand on him," Terry said holding a prism shaped crystal._

* * *

"A charm," Kairi said with a sense of familiarity, "like the one I gave Sora."

* * *

" _How do I remove these chains?" Terry asked looking for the lock that held Krystal._

" _They are magically locked, they'll only be undone once we cum," Krystal said, "Garland had cursed us to never be allowed climax, but If Garland is gone then his curse must have been broken, we should be able to cum now."_

" _PLEASE!" Princess Sarah cried out in her sexual stupor, "I've been here for so long, please help me please fuck me!" The princess moved her hips thrusting her pussy into the air desperate for release._

_There was a sound of splashing as the Princess struggled in her chains. Looking down Terry could see that the Princess was splashing in a pool of her own sexual fluids. Her pussy continued to drip like a faucet the sounds of water drops hitting the pool could be heard echoing in the room._

" _Go help her," Krystal ordered despite her own desires._

_Terry brought his fingers up to the Princess's snatch immediately and began to brush her outer lips pressing his thumb against her blood red clit._

" _AHHHHHHH!" Princess Sarah screamed from her desperately desired climax showering the floor with her release. The chains around her hands and ankles magically came undone and Princess Sara fell to the ground from her limp and weak limbs. The Princess landed in the puddle below and splashed both Krystal and Terry._

_With the Princess free Terry took off his shirt and armor dropped his slacks and approached Krystal wearing nothing but his boots allowing his erect member free. The sight of both the princess and Krystal had aroused him so much that his erection was pressing up against his own stomach._

* * *

Kairi knew that she should flip the pages again, but she felt a strange desire to continue.

* * *

_Terry kissed Krystal deeply as their tongues tried to dominate each other as he brought his hands up to her breast teasing her pointed nipples between his fingers._

" _Hurry up and put it in me," Krystal demanded._

" _I'm in charge now," Terry said, You always rush things but this time I want to take it slow while I have the opportunity."_

_Krystal cried as Terry hugged her close and caressed her body lovingly. Bringing his hands around he grasped her butt cheeks and began kneeling them in circles as though it were bread. Breaking the kiss between the two Terry moved his head down, Krystal stuck out her tongue and sucked the air trying to get Terry back into the kiss._

_As Terry moved down he left kisses in a path down Krystals body, stopping at one of her nipples Terry gently caught it between his teeth lightly tugging it while licking the very tip. Krystal moaned and threw her head back in pleasure. Like the princess before her Krystal tried thrusting her hips into the air to get at the pleasure that was her partner. She could feel his erection, the length of his dick pressed in between the lips of her snatch. Krystal felt the length of his dick rub down as Terry got on his knees. She could feel his breathing as Terry came face to face with her pussy._

* * *

Kairi brought the book closer as she suddenly felt engrossed at the particular section she was reading.

* * *

_Sora blew air towards Kairi's clit, the air felt freezing due to her overly sensitive pussy. Placing both of his fingers on both sides of the cleft of her vagina Sora spread her lips apart allowing him to see the familiar pink inner lining. Starting at the base of her snatch Sora gave a very slow lick up wiggling his tongue as he moved centimeter by centimeter. Sora savored the tangy flavor that was Kairi leaking out of her like a fruit being squeezed._

_Kairi cried at the torturous teasing stretching out her body as far as her bonds would let her. She curled her toes as her heels arched up, she pressed her hips forward doing anything to get Sora to please her faster. Kairi panted at the torture she suffered that was similar to what Garland had put her and the Princess through._

_Looking over the room in her sexual haze Kairi saw Princess Sarah who was on the ground watching the two friends intently make love. With one hand she massaged her breast running her hand over her nipple, with the other hand she was fingering her snatch vigorously rubbing circles over her clit and dipping her fingers into herself. The Princess never looked away and still had her look of a desperate need to orgasming._

_After an eternity Sora pressed his tongue right on Kairi's clit drawing circles around the nub poking out of its hood. Reaching around he placed his hands on each of her toned butt cheeks pressing her harder into himself._

_Kairi felt it, release was so close and she wanted it more than ever. Sora felt the signs of Kairi about to cum and drew back mere moments._

" _Why did you stop?" Kairi cried._

* * *

Kairi didn't notice that she was holding the book with one hand.

* * *

_Terry ignored Krystal's protest and pressed his dick into her as she wanted. Joy and relief filled her along with Terry as he began to thrust angling his dick to rub that certain spot Krystal loved. It took a few moments but Krystal began jerking her body and tensed up before final reaching her own climax. The chains holding her had undone themselves and Terry held up his love as she slumped right into his arms, his member still buried in her pussy._

_As soon as Krystal felt her strength return she and Terry looked down at the Princess as she continued to mastubate with no signs of stopping._

" _We have to help her," Krystal said._

_Krystal embraced the Princess brought the two into a sitting position, Krystal felt the Princesses back against her breast as she held both her arms back. Using her legs she brought them over the Princesses and bent her knees to pry the Princesses legs apart. Princess Sarah was once again restricted crying out for release and Krystal presented her right in front of Terry._

" _Are you sure?" Terry asked._

" _She'll lose herself if we don't give her some pleasure, and it's too far to take her to the Kingdom. You have my permission," Krystal said._

" _PLEASE FUCK ME! PLEASE FUCK ME!" Princess Sarah said as Krystal kept her restrained from behind._

_Terry placed his hand on the Princesses pussy and began-_

* * *

" _Mmmmnn aaahhHHH!"_ Kairi dropped the book when a sudden sensation of euphoria suddenly engulfed her. Kairi was shocked at the feeling and didn't know where it came from until she saw what she was doing.

Somehow without even noticing it herself she had brought her hand between her legs and rubbed the outside of her spats.

"W-When- w-why was I-?" Kairi tried to find the words to why she would do such a filthy thing, yet for a brief moment it felt absolutely wonderful to her. Yet a part of her told here that she had lost herself in the smut and should be ashamed for what she did. She brought her hand back to the spot it was in for a moment and lightly touched herself. She could feel a small layer of moisture seeping past the shorts.

"Was I about to-?"

*bibibibi*

Kairi jumped from the sudden ringing of her phone, Kairi hurried and picked up the device. On the front there was an alert that she had gotten a text from Sora. Feeling guilty and embarrassed at what she did Kairi entered her password and took a look.

**Sora: I'm sorry I hurt you.**

"Hurt me? What… oh no," Kairi had forgotten that despite their awkwardness she had left him all alone for the day. Not only that but all day Sora thought he hurt her and must have been wallowing in guilt this whole time. Kairi knew that she had to end this problem.

" _What should I say_?" she thought.

**Kairi: I fogive-**

No there was nothing to forgive him for.

**Kairi: It's not your faul-**

Okay there was some fault in him, despite the fact that he was trying to save her from falling in the ocean.

**Kairi: I didn't hate what you di-**

"NO NO NO," Kairi mashed on the delete button.

"This has to end, this has to end," Kairi said to herself bracing for what she was typing.

**Kairi: You didn't hurt me Let's talk tomorrow**

Kairi hit send, seconds later she received a text from Sora again.

**Sora: Okay**

Kairi put her phone down knowing that tomorrow she would have to face Sora again. Hopefully she would be more prepared to face him without having to succumb to her memories of their embarrassing moment.

Looking over at the bed she noticed the book was still there. Giving into her curiosity and knowing that she had to end this she skipped all the way to the end.

* * *

" _The Princess offered you so much," Krystal said, "You could have been made a duke with a mansion and a harem of women. Why did you refuse?"_

" _Because then I would have had to stay here instead of adventuring with you," Terry said, "I have you, and that's all I'll ever need."_

* * *

"… would Sora be okay staying with me _EEP?_ " Kairi dropped the book at the thoughts she once again had, "What am I saying!? The two of us haven't even kissed yet and now I want to-…. _Nnnnnnn!_ " Kairi almost felt like crying.

"I've become lewd," Kairi cried at her realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: now that the intros are over I can go all out and write whatever I want. While Kairi may have read a smutty novel it's still going to be a while before anything happens between her and Sora.
> 
> Kairi seems like the kind of girl to know that sex exist but not dable in it in any way without having Sora back, but over time she'll be introduced to sex


	6. Pursuits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Glad people enjoyed that last chapter but it's going to be a while before another chapter like the last one pops up and probably not that intense. Not to mention it won't involve fictional people in a fictional world. For now we return to Riku and Naminé.

Within a small lab within Radiant Garden Castle Naminé, Ienzo, and Even surrounded a table holding up a small hologram projector. Even pressed a few buttons on the keyboard attached to the machine. The machine gave a light hum. Above the small machine a light came on and a large heart suddenly appeared in a holographic light.

"Beginning test attempt 22," Ienzo said speaking into his tablet, "with a bit of extra effort we've managed to at the moment created a perfect simulation of a heart. Though without proper testing we are not sure how stable or similar to a heart our simulation is. Professor Even will begin entering certain memories within the simulated Heart. The scenario follows: Subject A will have left Subject B's home of residence to visit Subject C's home of residence. Assistant Naminé will then attempt to rearrange a new scenario via her memory abilities. If successful the scenario will then follow: Subject A will have left Subject C's home of residence to visit Subject B's home of residence."

"Now entering the scenario," Even spoke pressing some keys. Next to the heart the holographic image of a folder suddenly appeared. The folder was dragged over the heart and disappeared, " _Hmm_ , I don't believe that was a healthy reaction but the heart accepted the memories. All signs are stable the current scenario is as stated before," Even said.

"Now assistant Namine will attempt to rearrange the memories that were implanted," Ienzo said into his device.

Namine placed down a large tablet device and took out a stylus. Pulling up the 'Art' app she began to draw with her stylus.

Within minutes her image showed a strange comical image of a 'C' with hands waving goodbye at a large 'A' that was making walking motions towards a 'B' inside a house.

"The image is complete, I'm going to try and rearrange the memory now," Namine said. Holding her hand up to the image she made a waving motion towards the Heart. The three watched the heart expecting something to happen.

"Something's happening- oh for call Tron to put up the perimeter defense," Even said reaching under the table and pulling out a large light blue shield like armament.

The heart began to vibrate and soon gave a mist of darkness.

* * *

" _I can't do it_ ," Sora said from Riku's phone.

"You'll have to eventually," Riku said, "Cause if you don't then I'm going to have to tell Kairi to make the move."

" _NO! DO NOT TELL HER I TOLD YOU!"_ Sora yelled.

"Then get out there- hold on," Riku put the phone down, "Lea! Stop throwing your Keyblade so much! You keep leaving yourself open!"

"IT'S HOW I FIGHT * _BAP_ * OW!" Lea cried when Terra struck him in the side.

"Anyway, you have too more days. You had the courage to face insurmountable odds and piles of Heartless this shouldn't be too difficult," Riku said.

" _I know, and I don't want it to be but for some reason every time I try to get close to Kairi I just get the huge pressure in my heart telling me 'Please don't let Sora talk to me'_ ," Sora said.

"Don't mean 'Please don't let Kairi talk to me'?" Riku asked.

" _I thought so to but no that's the best way I can describe what I'm feeling, and it always happens whenever I get close to Kairi and she and I just freeze up neither of us can even look at each other_ ," Sora said.

"You both went through something weird with each other just give it time," Riku said.

" _YOU ONLY GAVE ME THREE DAYS_!" Sora yelled at him.

"Yup," Riku said, "Hey so listen I need some help on something Naminé's working on."

" _Why should I help you?_ " Sora questioned still angry at Riku.

"If this works Naminé could help a lot of people who were lost to the darkness," Riku said.

" _W-really? What's she doing_?" Sora asked.

"Naminé needs to learn how to control her powers better she's trying to make an artificial heart to practice on but you know making a hearts a lot harder than making a body apparently," Riku said, "You wouldn't happen to know a place that has like… a machine heart or something like a computer heart."

" _OH San Fransokyo!_ " Sora said excitedly.

"Uh what?" Riku questioned.

" _This big city world. I met this guy Hiro who has his own super hero team and he's got this cool balloon robot named Baymax, well two of them now, and they both have a heart_ ," Sora said.

"A robot had a heart?" Riku questioned.

" _You should see the place it's got these massive buildings to run up, the food is… weird sometimes but great like they're mashing two food types together you'll see what I mean, the place is so awesome it makes me feel something-apolitan!"_ Sora said excitedly, " _Oh man we gotta all go there some time you me and Kairi would love it there_."

"You're sure the robot has a heart?" Riku asked unsure at what Sora said.

" _Pretty sure, I mean we had to defeat past you… Replica you?... The Organization you was doing experiments with hearts and some version of you said that Baymax had a heart,_ " Sora said, " _If you go there then look for a guy named Hiro he's the leader of Big Hero six it's an awesome team you'll love them all._ "

"Well this definitely sounds like something Naminé could use I'll look into it," Riku said, "Well I need to go now, ask Kairi out before I tell what you said to me."

" _DON'T YOU DARE_ -!" * _beep_ * Riku hung up before Sora had a chance to finish.

* _bibibibibi_ * "That was fa- oh," Riku noticed that the person calling him was Naminé, "Hello?"

" _Riku! We need a bit of help here!_ " Namine said. Riku saw Namine and could see the back of Even behind her holding a shield blocking something black.

"What's going on!?" Riku questioned.

" _Something happened with the heart and we accidentally called in a bunch of Heartless can you come over and help us?_ " Naminé asked calmly. Riku could hear the sound of something clanging against Even's shield.

"I'm on the way!" Riku exclaimed, "Terra! Lea! We got trouble!"

* * *

Ienzo's tablet seemingly magically spun around him taking out two small Shadow Heartless that attempted to attack him. Facing the screen towards the Heartless pages of code suddenly flew out like paper and stuck more heartless.

"Riku's on his way," Naminé said behind Even. The two of them took cover in a corner of the room as the Heartless continued their assault.

"He'd better hurry up," Even said pressing a button on the shield. A his of blue mist sprung forth from his shield freezing a Heartless in front of him in place. A dozen more Heartless had suddenly appeared from the fake heart in the room as it continued to give off the same mist of darkness.

The doors to the lab suddenly opened up, a number of Dusk Nobodies entered the room and began attacking the Heartless.

"Oh, thank goodness you called them," Naminé said with relief at the sight of the Dusk.

"I didn't, why did they suddenly appear?" Even said confused.

After another minute the doors opened up again with Riku along with Lea and Terra.

"Naminé! What happened!?" Riku called out.

"Now's not the time!" Even yelled out annoyed holding back a pile of Heartless.

* _FWOOSH_ * The Heartless piling on Even exploded in flames of both Fire and Dark Firaga.

"I got you!" Terra headed for Ienzo and swung his large Keyblade taking out a large group of them.

* * *

"WOO HOO! Okay that was actually fun!" Lea said raising up his Keyblade in triumph. The battle was easy and quick with little effort, "It was fun working together again eh? Just like the good old days," Lea said to Even and Ienzo.

"You killed me in those days," Even said annoyed.

"Riku killed me in those days," Ienzo said annoyed.

"I was a prisoner," Naminé said annoyed.

"Oh right… sorry I forgot," Lea said.

"I would have assumed you of all people would have no problem memorizing events," Even said sarcastically.

"Have you studied the effects of saying 'thank you' yet?" Lea said annoyed.

"Thank you," Ienzo said, "Though I wish you had let me shut the machine off instead of smashing it," he said gesturing to the holograph machine that had been smashed into two halves.

"Sorry, I thought it was the only way," Terra said.

"Well then come along, I'll need your help to explain this to Master Ansem," Even said to Riku and Naminé, "Well start cleaning the place," he commanded the Dusk in the room.

Two Dusk opened their mouths and started pulling out dust pans and brooms which seemed more than they Dusk looked like they could carry.

"Let's go," Even said heading out but a minute later noticed that Naminé wasn't following him, "Naminé?"

Naminé was holding up something that looked like a silvery piece of cloth.

"One of the Dusk were killed," Naminé said.

"Ah… I see well no terrible lost," Even said continuing on his way.

Naminé picked up the small white shawl and kept it with her.

* * *

"So this time the project summoned Heartless," Ansem the wise spoke from his desk. After the incident Even with Riku and Naminé went to report the incident to Ansem.

"Tron have any Heartless escaped into the field?" Ansem called out.

" _No user Ienzo had informed me to set up the castles defense's early. There have been no reports of Heartless since the incident_ ," a mechanical voice from a speaker in the ceiling spoke.

"Hmm… perhaps this project may be more trouble than it's worth," Ansem said.

"What no!" Naminé cried, "It was just Shadows, they hardly posed a threat we can prepare ourselves for something as weak as those things."

"Even if it was small Shadows this time there's a chance we may accidentally summon something much more terrifying than a Shadow," Ansem said.

"If it comes to it I can ask the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee if they can spare a few members," Riku said, "Though I may have a better solution, Sora told me of a robot that has a heart of its own."

"Really!?" Naminé asked excitedly.

"In a world called San Fransokyo Sora said that he made friends with a guy named Hiro who has a robot named Baymax that has his own Heart. Apparently the Organization was looking into this as well," Riku said.

"A robot that has its own heart… that does sound like it would speed up the process if we could take a look at it," Even said.

" _Hmm_ … well there have been no signs of any increased Heartless attacks in any of the effected worlds, and the Heartless problem here has been severely reduced I suppose now would be a good time to allow the others free reign," Ansem said.

"Very well, I'll tell Ienzo to send out the word," Even said.

"Sora is going to be so happy he can finally travel," Riku said.

"Naminé would you to travel to San Fransokyo and investigate what Sora said?" Ansem asked.

"Really? Yes! Yes of course," Naminé said excitedly.

"Riku if it's not too much trouble would you travel with Naminé and check to see if this world was effected by our fight?" Ansem asked, "From what I can tell it should be safe but I would like someone to double check."

"No problem," Riku said

* * *

Back in the room Ienzo was salvaging data from the computers while Terra helped out the Dusk with the clean up. Letting out a water spell to splash the ground the Dusks swirled around the floor like rags polishing the floor.

"I had no idea that Nobodies could be this useful," Terra said.

"Even has been studying Nobodies for quite some time, he found the proper methods to coax them to be friendly. They were the basis for his replica bodies," Ienzo said.

"He's still a little creepy, not sure how I feel letting Naminé alone with him," Lea said looking over some small holes in the metal wall.

Lea licked the end of his thumb and placed it over one of the small dents. A quick hissing sound was heard and the area his thumb covered gave a light orange glow before Lea removed his thumb showing a fixed flat section of the wall.

Riku and friends returned to see a now fixed up room.

"Well I've got a few notes to look over and hologram projectors to try and fix," Even said with a glare at Lea.

"Wha- Terra was the one who broke it why are you glaring at me?" Lea questioned.

"Force of habit I suppose, got that memorized?" Even asked.

"Screw you," Lea said leaving.

"I'd better go to, I need to give him a ride," Terra said following behind.

"Alright then, Naminé I'll see you after lessons?" Riku asked her.

"Uh yes of course," Naminé said.

"Alright then, gotta give one last look over the place I'll see you tomorrow," Riku said following Lea and Terra.

"You're leaving?" Ienzo asked.

"Ansem has decided that it should be safe to leave the worlds unattended, despite how hard they were hit there's been no signs of increased Heartless activity," Even said.

"Ah that's good, I wouldn't mind taking a visit to other worlds," Ienzo said, "And where will you be going?" he asked Naminé.

"Sora spoke of a robot with a heart, Riku and I are going to take a look and see if this can help us with our work," Naminé said.

"Ah this does sound promising," Ienzo said, "Shall we put your lessons on pause tomorrow then?"

"No, Riku is still going to be teaching so I need to keep learning," Naminé said determined.

"Very well then, well since we've just finished up here I suppose you can be excused for the rest of the day," Ienzo said.

"Thank you, I need to prepare a few things then," Naminé said taking off.

"… so… Riku killed you the first time not Sora?" Even questioned.

"Yes apparently there was a gate to the realm of darkness in the basement of Castle Oblivion," Ienzo said.

"There was a basement?" Even asked.

* * *

"Sheesh, can't see how Sora is able to make friends with enemies so easily," Lea said annoyed, "So what's going on now you takin Naminé out?" he asked.

"I'm taking Naminé to visit one of Sora's friends, a group of hero's and a robot with a heart," Riku said.

"Robots can have hearts?" Terra questioned.

"Apparently," Riku said.

"I really need to start visiting more worlds I feel like I've missed so much," Terra said.

"What's up with you and Sora recently, he's been yelling at you for a while now whenever he calls or you ignore his calls. You're not fighting him are you?" Lea said.

"I'm kind of blackmailing him to ask Kairi out," Riku said.

Lea and Terra looked at each other confused.

"Are they… not together?" Terra questioned.

"Yeah wasn't half of Sora's adventures about Kairi?" Lea said.

"There is a very strong chance that Kairi thinks they're together but because she never verbally said it to Sora he doesn't think they're together," Riku said.

"Kairi… definitely seems like the kind to think that I remember how worried she'd get about Sora back whenever I mentioned him when… I kidnapped her," Lea said ashamed, "Jeeze how in the world am I friends with you guys?"

"They shared Poupu fruits with each other though right? Isn't that supposed signify a connection between two people?" Terra asked.

"Back home our tradition is that your destinies intertwine with each other if you share one with each other. The girls just eat up that myth as something romantic but I think Sora wouldn't see it as something romantic more like… friendship," Riku said.

"That's sad," Lea commented, "And now you're blackmailing him to get together with Kairi, I swear that sounds like a sitcom."

"What happens if he doesn't act?" Terra asked.

"Then I… can't really say but I may have to give Sora and Kairi the talk," Riku said.

"Are… are you serious?" Lea questioned even more confused, "Does Sora not know-."

"No no not literally it's a figure of speech," Riku said, "And Sora isn't that… he… he would know where babies come from right?" he asked suddenly worried.

"You would know him better than us," Terra said.

Riku paused in place for a moment.

"… Oh dear light I may actually have to give Sora the talk," he said with dread.

* * *

Naminé began packing a small bag in her room. She stowed only a few things, her tablet for research and other notes, her USB connections, and a few other travel essential items.

"This will be exciting," Naminé said to herself, "I never thought I'd get to travel other worlds and now I get to go to a new one with Riku… and me… just us," a plague of thoughts started to swarm Naminé's mind. Looking down at herself she looked over the simple white dress and sandals, "Perhaps I have something better to wear."

Naminé looked over to her closet and opened it up to find a row of the exact same dress and sandals lining the inside.

* * *

"I'm going shopping!" Naminé yelled as she raced past both Ienzo and Even towards the door.

"Just be sure to be back before- and there she goes," Even said watching her leave out of earshot.

* * *

" _Ugh_!"

Naminé had spent the better half of the night trying to find something nicer than what she had. However the town was still in a state of repair from a decade of Heartless conquest. Thus the town shops she came by only sold clothing with practicality in mind nothing to extravagant and nothing that didn't stand out more than her own dress.

"Maybe I should have brought a coat," Naminé said never realizing how cold it was in the dead of night in Radiant Garder.

* * *

Morning came to Radiant Garden, Naminé awoke long before her alarm alerted her due to her excitement.

"Today's the dayyy _eeh_ ," Naminé got out of bed but the instant she did a wave of dizziness suddenly took over her causing her to fall back into bed, "What is- _rrgh_ ," Naminé tried to speak but the simple act of talking caused her pain in her throat.

"What is… why… _nngh_ ," Naminé couldn't tell what it was but something was wrong with her body. Something unfamiliar and unknown. Naminé attempted to get up pressing her weight against a the wall of the room, " _Maybe… I haven't eaten enough, I did skip dinner_ ," she said no longer wanting to voice her thoughts.

As she was thinking that like magic one of the Dusk Nobodies entered her room carrying a tray of toast and juice as it always did.

"Perfe- _cough_ ," Naminé tried to say. The Dusk's head perked up as though it was just frightened and hurried to Naminé giving her a curious look, "I'm fine… I just need a little something."

The Dusk held up Naminé's breakfast for her as she leaned her back on the wall for support.

Realizing how parched she was she gulped the juice down quickly trying to gulp as little from the pain in her throat. Naminé placed the glass down and took the bread next taking a quick bite.

"Oh you sprinkled cinnamon this time that's-… that's new-." * _Thud_ *

A feeling a nausea caused Naminé to lose her strength and slipped down the wall onto the floor where she fell sitting against the wall, " _Wha-_ why?" Naminé questioned feeling worse all of a sudden. The Dusk placed the tray down and laid one of its tendrils across Naminé's head.

Placing both it's 'hands' on the sides of its 'head' the Dusk seemed to make a gasping motion. A passing by Dusk with a broom in hand looked in the room and saw the other one. The first Dusk pointed to the second Dusk and then pointed in a jerking motion to the left. The second Dusk gave a 'salute' and flew away like paper in the wind.

* * *

"Okay so… it's clear that the Darkness isn't going to be a threat and whatever Darkness you have in you belongs to you so that's good at least," Riku said to Terra.

Riku had met up with his two students in the usual training spot.

"But I still haven't been able to fully control it," Terra said.

"Maybe just… I don't know. Maybe it's a heart thing and not a body thing?" Lea suggested, "Should we ask Sora about this? He seems to have a knack for making complicated things simple."

"Maybe, I suppose it couldn't hurt to give him a call," Riku said, "I'm really hoping he finally asked Kairi out."

" _Heheh_ oh man just the thought of you doing that is hilarious," Lea said.

"Hey, Roxas and Xion were a part of Sora right? Would they know where babies come from?" Terra asked.

"Uhhh… oh… shoot now it's not funny," Lea said, "Wait are those Dusk?"

A group of three Dusk were flying in the air directly to Riku and his friends. Landing in front of the group one of them gently grasped Riku's hand.

" _Um_ can I help you?" Riku questioned. The Dusk that grabbed his hand started tugging Riku trying to get him to follow him but Riku stayed in place, "What's going on? Hey let go!"

"Did you do something to upset them?" Lea asked.

"I don't know-WAH!" losing patience the Dusk stretched out it's body like a long white rope and wrapped himself around Riku trapping him in place. The other two Dusk suddenly picked Riku up from his head to feet and started rushing back to the castle, "GUYS HELP ME!"

"I'm coming!" Terra said pulling out his Keyblade, but Lea grabbed him by the shoulder and stopped him.

"Hold up don't hurt them!" Lea ordered him.

"They just took Riku!" Terra argued.

"They aren't going to hurt him they weren't giving off any violent behaviors, they need him for something," Lea said.

"What? For what?" Terra questioned.

* * *

" _BOOF_!" Riku grunted when the two Dusk just dropped him like luggage on the floor of Naminé. The first Dusk unraveled from his body and let Riku free.

"WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT!" Riku yelled pulling out his Keyblade, "Did you finally turn and- wait what am I doing here?" he questioned when he realized he was inside Naminé's room.

" _nngh_."

Hearing a small grunt Riku turned around and saw Naminé on the floor, "Naminé!?" Riku put his Keyblade away and kneeled down next to her.

"Riku? _Cough_ did I oversleep?" Naminé asked.

"Over- Naminé why are you on the floor?" Riku asked grasping her by the shoulders to pick her up. When he did he could feel how bumpy her skin was as though she had the chills, "Are you okay?"

"Yes yes I'm fine," Naminé said weakly obviously not sounding fine, "I just need a minute it's probably because I skipped dinn- _ulp_!?" as she spoke Naminé began to feel a disgusting pressure from her stomach. She quickly placed a hand on her mouth as her cheeks puffed up.

"Oh no!" Riku said.

* * *

" _BRRRAAGH_!"

Riku held Naminé's hair up and looked away as she stuck her head in a toilet relieving herself of her small breakfast from the morning.

"What's wrong with _HHAACK_ ," Naminé cried out.

"Just let it all out we'll have Ienzo look at you," Riku said keeping his head away from the sight in front of him.

* * *

" _hmm_?" Ienzo took a look at the thermometer that had just been in Naminé's mouth.

"What's wrong? My bodies not deteriorating or anything is it?" Naminé asked with worry.

"I'm a bit insulted you think my Replica's would break down after so little time," Even said.

"You're not losing your body you're just sick," Ienzo said.

"What? Wait keep back I don't want to get sick," Even said taking a step back.

"Sick?" Naminé questioned.

"Yes, how can you not know… oh I suppose common illnesses aren't a thing Nobodies go through so I suppose it's normal for you to not know," Ienzo said, "Anyway it seems as though you have a small flu."

"Go back to your room you're staying there for now. I'll have to get the Dusk to disinfect the area" Even said keeping his distance.

"What but me and Riku were supposed to travel," Naminé tried to protest with a weak voice.

"You're not doing anything until you get better you're quarantined to your room," Even said.

"I'll take her back," Riku said.

"Not without proper precautions!" Even demanded.

* * *

Riku carried Naminé back to her room bridal style, Even had instructed him to wear a doctors mask as well as wear some latex gloves before giving him a bottle of disinfectant.

"This is sick? This is what humans go through?" Naminé asked still weak.

"Not all the time but yeah, Sora and Kairi got sick a lot more than me," Riku said, "You really didn't know what was going on with you?"

"No I just woke up like this I honestly thought my body was going to break apart," Naminé said.

"I personally fought against your body, it's not going to break apart that easily," Riku said.

"I'm sorry I ruined our trip, and I was so excited to go to a new world," Naminé said.

"You just focus on getting better we'll go when you're cured," Riku said.

Approaching her room Riku placed Naminé back in her bed. A Dusk entered the room holding water and some pills.

"Uh… thank you," Riku said still unsure of the Nobodies roaming the place. The Nobody approached Naminé and handed both items to her.

* * *

Riku silently closed Naminé's door after she had fallen right back asleep, the Dusk had followed him out just as silent as he was. Riku waited for a sign that Naminé could have woken up but her room remained silent. Riku turned around facing the Dusk Nobody.

"Do you… care about her?" Riku questioned the creature.

The Dusk gave a tilt of its head as though questioning Riku before going to help the other Dusk Even had ordered to clean and disinfect.

"Riku!" Terra called out, he and Lea had finally found their teacher, "What was that about?"

"Naminé was sick, I guess the Dusk just wanted me to check on her," Riku said.

"They traveled all that way for you? Why not Ienzo or Even they must have been closer," Terra said.

"I'm not sure," Riku said staring at the groups of Dusk, "Well since Naminé's not going to be traveling for a while we're going back to normal training."

" _ugh_ great," Lea said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Here we go hope you all like this Chapter, I got to add a few things this time as well as elements from older games. Zexion's old weapon was a book so the tech version of that would be a tablet. Also given how Namine is no longer stuck with a notepad I gave her a tablet as well since professional artist draw on a computer. Also added a few foreshadows.
> 
> Also while this fic may be an E/M rated one I will be adding a few fun things at some point.
> 
> Be sure to Review/comment on this fic.


	7. New information

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Not a lot of notice last chapter maybe because I was making a regular chapter than a… was chapter 5 a lemon? It was a lemon in a non lemon fic whatever point is here's the next chapter. Gonna have to do a bit of research for some KH2 characters eventually.

" _UUUUUGh_ ," Hayner groaned.

Evening came and the resident kids of Twilight Town exited the schools to return home. Hayner, Pence, and Olette met up before leaving together as they usually did. Hayner dragged his feet as they walked as though he was disappointed.

"Rough day?" Pence asked.

"Math is a pain in the butt, why do we have to study it so much!?" Hayner complained.

"I know you don't like it but you need to learn it," Olette said.

"How? How is Math supposed to help me in life? When am I ever going to use Trigonometry in my daily life?" Hayner asked, "Why are we wasting our time in school while all our friends get to go out and have fun Keyblade adve- _MPH_!"

Olette smothered his mouth with his hand.

"Don't use that word! We're not allowed to talk about that you know this!" Olette hissed at him.

"Right sorry, why do our friends get to go on a fun… warriors… quest journey fencing club?" Hayner said.

"I think you would get less attention from people if you just said the truth," Pence said.

"I just don't think it's fair that we're still stuck here while all our other friends have such… exciting lives," Hayner said.

"I don't, I'd rather stay here than go out and fight for our lives," Pence said.

"But that's half the fun," Hayner said.

"They're not even fighting now everyone's just keeping the peace, and I'm sure it wasn't all fun and games for them I mean Kairi got kidnapped right in front of us I'm sure that wasn't fun for any of us to see, and imagine how horrifying that was for Kairi," Olette said.

"Yeah true but now we hang out with the guy who kidnapped Kairi," Hayner said.

"The last time we tried to help you almost died, how are you not freaking out about that?" Pence said.

"I would have been fine," Hayner said.

"And it's that kind of thinking why you should stay in school," Olette said.

"You guys are no fun," Hayner said.

"So you guys have any money this time?" Pence asked.

"Not much," Hayner said taking out his wallet.

"Yeah I'm trying not to spend to much for something," Olette said pulling her little money pouch.

"Mnn it's not much, but we could probably split two of the appetizers, maybe one of the cheaper meals," Pence said looking over their collected pool of change.

"You know we don't have to go to the Bistro if we're this short," Olette said.

"I know but it's really good, and there's word is that there's a new waitress there that's getting a lot of attention," Pence said.

"Oh… actually yeah I have heard a lot of the guys talking about her to, wanna go see what she looks like?" Hayner said.

" _ugh_ of course," Olette said annoyed.

"Hey come on, we can get the Rat-thing you like so much," Hayner told her.

"Ratatouille," Olette corrected him, "Fine, but we're doing our homework there at least."

"Fine," Hayner said, "It's supposed to be the weekend why are they still giving us homework?"

"We can finish it there then we'll have all weekend to ourselves," Olette said.

* * *

The three were lucky to grab a table, as usual the place was packed with people. Either fans of the good food or those who wanted to see the new waitress. Olette had gotten the two to begin their work.

"Math," Hayner said with disdain.

"It's not as hard as you think it is," Pence said.

"It's annoying to have to go through all these formulas to find the right answer," Hayner complained.

"Well it's not going to get solved by complaining," Olette told him.

"I'm working I'm working," Hayner said.

"Hello there, I'm Xion I'll be serving you today."

"What? Xion?" Pence questioned.

Xion had managed to approached the three friends without them noticing.

"O-Oh g-guys," Xion said shyly as all three of her friends stared at her.

"Xion? Wait you're working here?" Olette said.

"Ah y-yes, there was an opening and Mister Scrooge was kind enough to give me the job," Xion said.

"Wait why are you working? Aren't you also doing the warrior training thing I can't say?" Hayner asked.

"The- what?" Xion questioned.

"Keyblade training," Olette whispered.

"Oh that," Xion said, "The… one I had it wasn't really my own it was more of a copy due to well a lot of complicated things. I want to have my own… one… but it's going to take some time. So for the time being I decided to get a job."

"That 'one' wasn't yours?" Hayner questioned.

"I'm not really following what you're saying," Pence said.

"It's a really long story," Xion said, "Listen I still have to work for another hour so was there anything I could do for you?"

"Oh uh we're still deciding," Pence said.

"And heads up we're poor so we'll probably be giving you a lousy tip sorry," Olette warned.

"Oh that's fine you're friends, maybe I can get you guys something myself," Xion said.

"NO HAND OUTS!" a yell was heard across the room.

"Okay never mind," Xion said.

"You know what we'll just get everything to go, wanna meet up at our usual spot when you're done working?" Olette asked.

* * *

After ordering nothing but water for the past while the trio ordered their food to go right as Xion finished her shift. Xion got back into her usual casual outfit and met the trio behind the restaurant holding their order. Walking to their usual hidden spot in the back alley with Xion Hayner, Pence, and Olette couldn't help but notice the amount of stares that they were getting from some of the people near the Bistro.

"Xion has… everything been going okay?" Olette asked her friend.

"Yes, why?" Xion questioned.

"A lot of people are looking at you," Hayner said, "They're not giving you any trouble right?"

"Oh… um no. Apparently people think I'm pretty," Xion said shyly.

"Seriously?" Olette questioned.

"Ever since I started working there people keep saying hello to me or just watching me, some people have been leaving their numbers on their receipts for me," Xion said, "Of course Axel says I'm not allowed to keep those numbers."

"Wait wait, you're getting people to hit on you?" Hayner questioned.

"No of course not! Everyone's been polite to me," Xion said shocked.

"He means everyone's flirting with you," Pence said.

"Uh… I don't know what that means either," Xion said.

"People want to be your boyfriend," Olette said.

"What? Like Roxas and Axel?" Xion questioned.

"I really hope not that would be weird," Hayner said.

"Maybe we should start spending more time together, just us girls," Olette said.

"But I like it when all of us are together," Xion said.

* * *

"So why aren't you out with Axel and Roxas Keyblade training?" Hayner asked.

The gang had arrived at the usual spot hidden in the back alley. Xion immediately took a seat on the couch while the others just sat in different areas.

"Are you still going to try and become a master?" Pence asked.

"I do want to train with my friends and I do want to become a Keyblade Master, but I don't want to use my current Keyblade," Xion said.

"Right, you said something was a copy?" Pence asked.

"The Keyblade I have… a lot of things about me were borrowed. I wasn't exactly born like everyone," Xion said.

"You mean like a Nobody like Axel and Roxas?" Hayner asked.

"No," Xion said.

"Wait… are you a Heartless?" Pence asked.

"What no… I think?" Xion said now thinking, "Would that be bad to you?" she asked sounding worried.

"Hey it's alright we're friends now we're not judging," Olette said.

"Right… I was made as a, I guess backup of Roxas," Xion said.

"What like a clone 'made'?" Pence asked.

"I suppose, it was back in the Organization. I was made as a backup in case they lost Roxas and the Keyblade," Xion said.

"Ooh, okay this is starting to sound exciting," Hayner said starting to pay closer attention.

"Um… well I wasn't exactly made the way they wanted. I was made to take Roxas's ability to wield the Keyblade as my own. At first I guess I only had a little bit of it because we both could use a Keyblades, but after a while I found out that I was taking a lot more from Roxas. It was just his power but then I started taking memories that rested in him, and because Roxas was Sora's Nobody I was taking Sora's memories. Then I started taking Roxas's own memories and even more things got really complicated, but I found out that if I kept existing eventually Roxas would disappear and Sora would remain asleep forever," Xion said.

"Wait what do you mean Sora would sleep?" Pence questioned.

"Oh right… another long story but Naminé was putting Sora's memories together at the time when she was forced to rearrange them," Xion said.

"Kairi's Nobody?" Olette questioned.

"Oh my light you guys have the most fun why are we wasting our time in School. Go on what happened next?" Hayner questioned excited and leaning closer to Xion.

"Well… I decided that I didn't want my friend to disappear so I tricked Roxas into fighting me so that when he beat me all of 'me' would be given back to him and Sora," Xion said.

"Wait Roxas killed you!?" Olette asked shocked.

"It was the only way, I couldn't just give myself up Roxas had to take back what was his," Xion said.

"Okay… maybe your life isn't something I should be excited about," Hayner said, "So if what you say happened happened then how are you here? Not to complain."

"I guess… I just got my own Heart eventually like Roxas and Naminé, and Sora had been carrying it. I think maybe I was a copy in the past that was taken by Xehanort but the body from the past was empty and when me and Sora fought my heart took my empty body? I think?" Xion said sounding confused.

"This all sounds confusing," Hayner said.

"Yeah, it really is," Xion said.

"So why aren't you training with Roxas and Lea?" Hayner asked.

"Because the Keyblade I have is just a copy, something I took," Xion said.

"Oh… it did look a lot like Sora's now that I think about it," Pence said.

"Everything about me was taken, even… even the way I look isn't really my own I just look like this because of Sora's memories of Kairi," Xion said.

"Oh… I was wondering about that. I always assumed you were like a second Nobody of Kairi," Pence said, "So… you could look like anybody?"

"No not anymore," Xion said, "Well there was a time when I looked different to other people based on their memories. People saw me as who they thought I was or reminded them of. I have a strong suspicion that Axel saw me as Naminé for a long time."

"So you look like Kairi because that was the memory you got from him?" Pence asked.

"Yes, that was Sora's strongest memory," Xion said.

"What if a guy was his strongest memory, would you have turned into a guy to?" Pence asked.

"I guess," Xion said.

"Pence! You don't ask a girl these kinds of things!" Olette scolded.

"What? It's really interesting," Pence said.

"A lot more interesting that what we've been learning," Hayner said, "So you're not going to use the Keyblade you have?"

"No, Master Aqua was kind enough to perform a ritual that will allow me to have my own Keyblade, but it's going to take a while. I decided that since I'm not doing anything I'd do something to help support both Axel and Roxas," Xion said.

"You guys aren't short on money are you?" Olette questioned.

"No we're fine, I just don't want to keep taking from my friends without giving anything back, and maybe I'll get them something once I get my own Keyblade," Xion said.

"Why? That seems like such a waste, especially with all the cool stuff you could do over waiting tables," Hayner said.

"I want to be my own person in any way I can," Xion said.

"Well I think it's really noble of you," Olette said.

"Well that was a fun story. You got anymore to tell?" Hayner questioned.

"Oh no, I saw your work you still have some more questions to answer," Olette said.

"Oh come on I can finish it later," Hayner complained.

* * *

" _Ugh_ you guys are the worst," Hayner said. His notes and school books all spread out on the ground.

"Come on just a few more questions," Olette told him.

"It's not as easy as you make it seems," Hayner said.

"Are you're being forced to do this work?" Xion questioned looking over the papers and books Hayner was complaining about.

"It's homework, we all do it to refresh ourselves on the school work we do," Pence said.

"It's a scam. We spend all day in class why make us work more when we already spend almost all our time in school?" Hayner said, "How am I supposed to find the area for this?"

"You just need to break down the shapes and find the area for each, look you already got these answers down here," Olette said.

"Oh I just copied Pence," Hayner said.

"Hey!" Pence said.

" _Ugh_ Hayner!" Olette scolded.

"I thought I'd be able to figure out the formula if I had the answers," Hayner defended.

"That process takes way longer," Pence said.

"Sorry Xion this might take some time, you don't need to stay and wait," Olette said.

"No this is fine, I'm actually interested I've never been to school so this is new to me," Xion said.

"Everything about your life sounds more and more awesome to me," Hayner said.

" Are all the answers in here?" Xion asked looking over Hayner's school book.

"In the back don't let him see, it's why we insist on helping him," Olette said.

Xion began to flip the pages of the book looking over each and every page.

"Okay so add both bases," Pence said.

"Isn't there just one base?" Hayner asked.

"No no base doesn't just mean the bottom in this case," Pence said.

"For Trapezoids the length of the top and bottom are both called bases," Xion said.

"Wait what?... oh wait now that makes sense. Why can't you guys simplify it like Xion?" Hayner asked.

"… Xion where did you learn that?" Olette questioned.

"The formula was in this book," Xion said.

"And you could tell what we were talking about by what we were talking about?" Olette asked.

"It's all in page ninety six," Xion said still holding the book.

"… you've never been to school right?" Pence asked.

"No," Xion said.

"Did they teach you math in your Organization?" Hayner asked.

"No just killing Heartless and writing reports," Xion said.

* * *

"XION!" Lea ripped down the sheet door of the usual spot for the gang in a frenzied attempt to find Xion. Upon tearing the barrier down he saw Xion with the Twilight trio looking over a bunch of papers, "Oh thank goodness! It wasn't a group of strangers," Lea said relieved.

"Everything okay?" Xion asked.

"Where were you! I was calling you, you didn't answer!" Lea said.

Xion took out her phone to see a line of messages from both Roxas and Lea.

"Oh! Sorry I forgot that I leave my phone on silent when I'm working," Xion said, "Let me just send a message to Roxas."

"What have you been doing?" Lea questioned.

"Oh dude you gotta see this, I think we found something amazing Xion can do," Hayner said.

"Okay so this is the formula for Pi," Pence said holding up a sheet of paper, "Memorize this," he ordered.

"The heck you just say?" Lea questioned.

"Okay," Xion said looking over the formula.

"Now based on that start naming the digits that come after that," Pence said.

"Um… three point one four one five nine two-."

* * *

Roxas rushed through the town when he Xion finally told him where she was. As soon as he and Lea exited the sewers they were planning to meet Xion at work only to find out that she was already off for the day. When he asked Scrooge he said that three people were talking to her but he was too busy to get a look at who.

Roxas made his way to the usual spot where Xion was and barged in just as Lea did.

"Eight four four- Roxas!" Xion cheered happily when he appeared.

"Oh thank goodness," Roxas felt himself finally relax, "So you guys took her?"

"Yeah sorry, I didn't know you two would worry about it that much," Olette said.

"What are you guys doing," Roxas asked.

"Apparently Xion has some kind of super memory," Lea said.

"What?" Roxas questioned.

"Xion just recited Pi up to number one hundred and thirty six and she just learned what Pi was that's incredible!" Pence nearly screamed out excited.

"So all that was correct?" Lea questioned.

"Yeah! I followed through and it was all correct!" Pence said holding up his calculator, "I mean it would takes weeks to memorize that much and Xion just remembered all of it in an instant!"

"Should I keep going?" Xion questioned.

"No as amazing as that was that was enough but still that was really amazing even I think it was cool!" Hayner said.

"Is… is what I did not normal?" Xion asked worried.

"No! You can remember anything just by looking at it you took all the info in my annoyingly heavy math book like it was nothing you could memorize anything and everything! I don't think it's as great as using a Keyblade but still this is like another superpower that you don't need to worry about telling others!" Hayner said.

"So… I'm not normal?" Xion questioned now worried.

"No no Xion this is good," Olette told her, "This sets you apart, this gives you identity!"

"Yeah! You could be a super nerd!" Hayner said.

"Hayner stop trying to help," Olette told him, "This is something that you and only you probably can do. That's something people will remember you for being able to do."

"Oh… okay that sounds good," Xion said cheering up.

"So… we done here?" Lea questioned, "Not to undermine the whole thing but me and Roxas usually get Xion and Ice Cream at this time."

"Yeah, I'm in," Hayner said.

"Get back here," Olette said pointing to the homework.

"Oh come on!" Hayner complained.

* * *

Lea, Roxas, and Xion were sitting at the top of the clock tower eating their Sea-salt and watching the sun go down.

"So, you have a photographic memory?" Lea questioned.

"Yeah apparently, it's kind of why I was able to do my job so well. I didn't know it was that amazing I thought it was a normal thing," Xion said.

"Is there other stuff you could do?" Roxas asked.

"I'm not sure," Xion said.

"Well if you can memorize things instantly then maybe you should work on magic when you get your Keyblade. How's that coming by the way?" Lea asked.

"It's… not here yet," Xion said.

"You know from what I heard Sora had gotten his when he was in danger," Lea asked.

"So… we should put Xion in danger?" Roxas asked.

"No absolutely not just thinking," Lea said, "Riku was able to get his Keyblade when he accepted the dark so… what side are you?"

"Shouldn't I be light? Isn't being dark bad or… something?" Xion asked.

"It's a choice, I'm choosing to focus on light," Roxas said.

"Is it? I thought I'd be darkness you know considering but there's still no sign of it. I thought I'd been through enough crud to push me on the dark side but you should hear what Terra and Riku went through," Lea said, "So… what do you feel like doing for the weekend? You working?"

"No I'm free," Xion said, "Do you want to see the other parts of this town? I don't think we've seen it all."

"Well I'll have to meet up with you later, me and Isa gotta finish a few things for our citizenship at the DMV," Lea complained.

"Everything going okay?" Roxas asked.

"It's paperwork and it's annoying. I gotta get up early enough just to make the line and not waste half my day. By the way if anyone asks I'm your 'legal guardian', Isa is my half brother on our fake dad's side, I work out of town with Roxas at a company called 'Disdy', and also I'm twenty nine," Lea said.

"Is that… really your age?" Xion questioned.

"No but we're all immigrating from another world so we need to lie about a bunch of things," Lea said, "Honestly I forgot how old I am I lost count after being a Nobody and I don't think we age as Nobodies."

"So we can't hang out together tomorrow?" Xion said.

"I'll be free it won't take all day," Lea said, "You got a bunch of money now go and get yourself something nice with Roxas."

"Like what?" Xion said.

"Uhh… whatever girls shop for," Lea said.

"… like what?" Xion asked.

"Maybe you and Olette should hang out together more," Lea said.

* * *

"So what do you wanna do?" Roxas asked.

It was early morning the next day and Lea had already left the two everyone else was still asleep. Xion looked at her large pouch full of tips from her job. Xion and Roxas were some of the few people awake in Twilight Town.

"I'm not sure," Xion said.

"You wanna get anything?" Roxas asked her.

"To be honest the only reason I got a job was so I didn't have to rely on you and Axel, but now I have more than I need," Xion said, "Is there anything we need right now?"

"Not that I can think of, honestly me and Axel don't even spend too much time at home we're usually training or traveling," Roxas said.

"… can you make your Keyblades into vehicles?" Xion asked.

"Keyblade transformation takes a long time to learn and we're focusing on getting us at a Master's level of combat we can take our time with learning Keyblade transformation after we become Masters," Roxas said, "Though it is a bit annoying to have to get rides from friends and we can't talk to each other when we're in space."

"… what if I bought a ship?" Xion asked.

"What? Why?" Roxas questioned.

"We keep having to travel, and if you guys do become Masters you'd need to travel a lot and help people, and I want to be able to travel to," Xion said.

"Well, do you have enough to even buy one?" Roxas asked her.

* * *

"Xion!" Huey, Dewey, and Louie cheered when Xion approached their stand. The three duck triplets hugged her legs hello.

"Huey, Dewey, Louie," Xion greeted patting the three children on the head.

"You know these three?" Roxas asked.

"They're Mister Scrooges grandnephews, sometimes they sneak in the back and I sneak them some leftovers when Mister Scrooge isn't looking," Xion said.

"Not that well he's been coming by and charging us for what we take," Dewey said.

"He charges you? Wait but aren't you his nephews?" Roxas questioned.

"Yeah but he's also super cheap," Huey said.

"Who's your friend Xion," Louie began in a teasing tone, "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Wh-what?" Roxas blushed at what Louie said.

"Yes," Xion answered happily.

"Whoa what?" Roxas questioned embarrassed and confused.

" _Huh_ , not as fun when they just admit it," Louie said disappointed.

"Wait hold on what do you-?" Roxas flustered at Xion's brash admittance.

"How much does it take for a ship?" Xion asked the three not hearing Roxas's confusion.

" _shh shh shh_!" Louie shushed them all, he hopped up on the counter and got eye level with Xion, "Where uh… where you from?" Louie whispered quietly while making sure there was nobody around to hear them.

"Oh… ummm, I don't think I have an answer for that," Xion said, "I think Roxas would technically be from Destiny Island or… maybe Radiant Garden since he would have been born ther-."

" _Shhh_ , not so loud," Dewey shushed her.

"Selling ships is a secret business we can't let just anyone know we sell space ships for traveling to different worlds," Huey said, "But… you're not from Twilight town?"

"No," Xion said.

"Good enough for me," Huey said, "So what are you in the market for? Leisurely travel or…"

"Xion what-," Roxas started.

"I just want to go to other worlds, and my friends Roxas and Axel have to keep traveling so I want to buy a ship to help them," Xion said.

"Well we got an assortment of blueprints to start out from," Dewey stated taking out a few list, "It's not going to be cheap you need the surface parts for the ship it's space so pretty much any ridiculous shape will do we've had pumpkin shaped Gummi ships before but you're also going to need a few extra things than just blocks to make a shape you need an engine for obvioius reasons."

"We got propellers and thrusters rotors and stuff," Huey said, "You also need wings and a cockpit there's also a bridge to install for making room for whatever neat stuff you find out in space."

"We have blasters and laser for taking down everything that tries to kill you first," Louie sad excitedly making gun shapes with his wings, " _phew phew phew_ aagugh no! Tell my wife I love here _glragrlagrlkl_."

"Wait am I going to be hurting families?" Xion asked.

"No no that's an exaggeration," Dewey said, "You are going to want weapons though that part is true."

"How much would I need?" Xion asked.

* * *

"This might take longer than I thought," Xion said as the two were walking back home. Dewey had given Xion a price list on the different Gummi ship parts and blocks.

"Uh… m-maybe if you got the smaller one?" Roxas said still unsure about what Xion called him.

"No it needs to be bigger, we have all our friends I need a big ship for all of us," Xion said, "I don't need to follow the blueprints I can just make a design of my own. I can learn about rocket science easily remember?"

"Right… you're really good at memorizing things," Roxas said.

"Well it'll take a while before I get my ship for now I'm just going to have to save my money," Xion declared, "Once I get it we should take a trip somewhere."

"U-Uh you mean just us?" Roxas questioned.

"No with everyone, also I think Hayner is getting a bit stressed being stuck here," Xion said.

"Right… Hayner," Roxas said with a tone of annoyance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Now seems like a good time to leave a cliffhanger, I meant to update earlier but I was busy yesterday. Gave Huey Dewey and Louie a bit of their rebooted personality. For Xion given what she is and her original purpose I think it would make sense to give her the ability to take in information. Let me know if you liked this chapter.


	8. Personal Issues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Sorry, been a bit busy so I couldn't write. We're still going into the early stages of the fic so for those who wonder where the E/M rated stuff is it's still going to take some time. Anyone hear that Olaf's voice isn't going to be in KH3 apparently he got arrested. Anyway on with the fic.

It was the weekend on Destiny Island Sora waited in a hidden spot on his home with his ship. For the past two days the plague of his incredibly awkward event with his best friend and Riku's blackmail had been tormenting his every waking moment. Seeing Kairi not want to talk to him or even look at him had been emotionally devastating and the nagging feelings he had about her not wanting to speak to him whenever the two looked in each other's direction didn't help.

"She said I didn't hurt her but… _nngh_ ," Sora racked himself with guilt. Texting her in the middle of the night had taken all the courage he had, but it paid off and now they were at least going to talk to each other which was a start.

But then he would have to ask her out or risk Riku possibly ruining their friendship. There was a part of Sora that thought Riku had been taken over by the Darkness a second time.

"Sora?"

Said boy froze when he heard his name being called by Kairi.

"H-Hey KaI-ri?" Sora felt his voice crack like he was going through puberty a second time.

"Hey," Kairi said waving gently.

Sora noticed that she was dressed in her battle attire. The cute one with all the buttons and pockets she liked so much. She wasn't wearing those weird black shorts like she was yesterday so he could see her long bare legs going right up her short skirt-

"H-Hows things going?" Sora questioned trying to think of anything else.

"Good good," Kairi said gently, "Going to just borrow the ship now so I can go have my lessons with Master Aqua."

"Right right like you always do," Sora said with a slightly more stable tone.

"So… we should… well… talk?" Kairi felt the need to talk about what happened.

"Oh… right," Sora said.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Soooo… about what happened," Kairi started after their long awkward pause.

"HEY so Ienzo called they're not worried about Heartless anymore," Sora loudly began interrupting her.

"Really?" Kairi asked sounding happy.

"Y-Yup," Sora stuttered at the sight of a happy Kairi.

"So… why don't we go together?" Kairi asked.

"what?"

"Well I mean Terra and Ventus are usually bored when Aqua's busy with me you should visit them," Kairi said, "Unless you're busy today."

With the thought of spending a trim alone with Kairi, Sora tried to think of an excuse.

"Uh-n-no complete free, nothing to do all day."

* * *

" _Dang it_ ," Sora thought as he piloted the ship with Kairi sitting right next to him.

Even in the luxurious and spacious cockpit of his Golden Highwind the space between him and Kairi felt minuscule. They had been flying in silence for ten minutes and neither one of them had been able to gather the courage to break their current silence.

"… _um_ ," Kairi began gently.

"I'M SORRY!"

Sora's confession caused him to jerk the yoke of his ship and rocked it causing a slight dip in their course. He and Kairi to hopped in their seats only being kept in place by their seatbelts.

"Uh what?" Kairi questioned still feeling the effects of being shook.

"I didn't mean to hurt you or take advantage of you I mean we were getting competitive and I lost focus but then you fell I could have done something better I mean I didn't mean to tackle you like that I was just so worried about you getting hurt but I shouldn't think that because you're a strong person I shouldn't underestimate you-."

"Stop stop stop stop," Kairi shushed him waving her hands in his face, "That-you-… so much of that was wrong first off do you actually think that you hurt me?"

"I mean… I kind of-," Sora tried to say but with the returning memories of the event he started to blush and draw a blank.

"Alright alright first lets… _nn_ gh," Kairi grunted and blushed forcing what she knew what she had to say, "You saw me… in… a vulnerable state yes but it was clearly an accident."

"Yes it absolutely was I swear," Sora quickly agreed.

"Also," Kairi began slightly annoyed, "Sora do you really think I saw that as you trying to take advantage of me or that I think you're that kind of person in any way shape or form?"

"Well… maybe?"

"You're not that kind of person Sora okay? I know it was an accident, I know you were just trying to help, you didn't hurt me, or any other weird thing you think you did," Kairi said, "It was an accident so… let's just get over it."

"So… you're not mad about what I did?" Sora asked.

"Oh for alright… alright alright," Kairi braced herself, "If… if I ever… oh light… it was you Sora okay? So… if it had to be someone… it was you… so I don't mind," every word coming out of her mouth made Kairi feel like she was trying to force out air through a muddy straw.

"… so… are you asking me to look-?"

"NO! Oh my light Sora!"

"Right sorry, the way you said that-," Sora felt an even deeper blush on his face.

"Look I don't care if you see me with or without anything on!" Kairi said in frustration.

"…," Sora said nothing taking in the words Kairi just said.

"Oh light I made it worse," Kairi covered her face in shame and looked away realizing the humiliating sentence she said, "J-Just fly go."

"riGht," Sora squeeked out.

* * *

"So what do you guys want to do?" Ventus asked his friends.

It was morning in the Land of Departure and Aqua, Terra, and Ventus with Chirithy were already awake. Chirithy stayed perched on top of Ventus's head as he attempted breakfast. Terra and Aqua sat at the table with a small cup of coffee.

"Ienzo said that we can stop worrying about any lingering threats, now might be a good time to restock supplies," Terra said.

"I want to take a look around at the other worlds that might have been effected as well just to double check," Aqua said.

"No come on," Ventus said managing the frying pan on the stove, "Guys we should do something together it's been way too long and we've been working and training all week."

"I still need to give Kairi her lessons," Aqua said.

"Right but we still have the next day," Ventus said, "I still have those passes to Disney Town, we should see how to town's doing."

"I… suppose that's one of the places I could visit but there are still others to look over," Aqua said.

"We'll all split up and look," Terra said, "We'll finish with plenty of time left."

"But it's not your responsibility, I need to-," Aqua started.

"You've worked more than the rest of us, it won't hurt to take a break. Unless you think we can't handle it," Terra said.

"No that's not it-," Aqua started.

"I call Neverland," Ventus called.

"Olympus," Terra called.

"Wait but…well… I suppose I can ask for some help," Aqua felt reluctant to ask for help.

"Good," Terra said.

"Foods up!" Ventus said.

His plate of food looked to resemble scrambled eggs though there were bits of what looked like fish in it that had burnt up a bit.

"You… experimented?" Terra questioned.

"Yeah ever since we tried out that bistro I've been dying to try and make other food," Ventus said. He was too proud of himself to notice the slight disgusted expression on his friends faces.

"It… looks…," Aqua started.

"Yeah I can't taste but even I know I don't want to eat," Chirithy said from atop Ventus's head.

"What no it's good," Ventus picked up a nearby fork and took a bite, "I mean… _nng_ … I think I didn't cook it enough… even though the outside looks a bit done… and it taste a little too peppery _nck_ I think I ruined it," he said putting his fork down.

"Please don't try and experiment," Terra said.

"I mean… it was a nice attempt but you're not the best cook," Aqua said.

"I'm not that bad," Ventus argued.

"You're limited to eggs, burgers, and anything with instant in the name," Terra said.

"I could… learn," Ventus started.

"Well I guess I'll have toast then," Terra said.

" _hmm_?" Chirithy perked its head up when he sensed a pure light, "Kairi's here!" Chirithy excitedly jumped down and immediately ran for the door.

"He's never that excited for me," Aqua commented with a light pout.

* * *

Kairi and Sora had let themselves into the massive castle. Chirithy was already running for the two aiming for Kairi. The two broke back into character trying to forget their earlier conversation.

"Kairi!" Chirithy cheered jumping up to her.

"Chirithy," Kairi greeted catching the spirit and giving it a hug.

"Hey Chirithy," Sora said patting it on the head.

"Guys," Ventus called out with Aqua and Terra behind him.

"Terra, Ven, Aqua," Sora called out.

"I didn't expect to see you as well," Aqua said noting Sora.

"I thought it would be nice, Sora's been feeling cooped up," Kairi said.

"Well me and Ven usually do a bit of training at this time, I wouldn't mind seeing what you can do," Terra said.

"Yeah, that sounds fun," Sora said excitedly.

"Fine, you boys go out and play, me and Kairi have work to do," Aqua said, "Chirithy let go."

"No just a few more minutes," Chirithy snuggled right up to Kairi and Aqua gave a dissatisfied grunt.

" _snk_ ," Terra held back a laugh at Aqua's pout.

"Oh just go," Aqua told them.

" _Awww_ ," Chirithy whined when Ventus took the Spirit with him.

* * *

Kairi jumped from side to said as a dozen orbs of light surrounded her. Two Orbs of light were about to crash into her and Kairi tried to slide herself to the side. Her body began to lighten and her entire form seemed to compress into a single ball of light. The effect lasted for a brief moment before her body turned back to normal and she tripped on the floor skidding on the marble floor.

"Hold," Aqua called out as the orbs of light all disappeared.

"Oww," Kairi groaned rubbing her reddened face from skidding across the floor.

"You were doing so well last week," Aqua commented, "You've been keeping up with the training I gave you right?"

"Yeah," Kairi got up and began brushing the dust off her attire.

"Is there something bothering you? Light dodging isn't easy if you can focus," Aqua said.

"Uh… no," Kairi said.

"Kairi," Aqua said sternly.

"It's just… relationship troubles nothing to worry about," Kairi admitted.

"Really? You and Sora?" Aqua questioned.

"I know I know, we're supposed to be a perfect couple," Kairi said.

"Well I know not to expect perfection but you two have been together for a month I wasn't expecting you to two to have issues," Aqua said.

"It's nothing to worry about, let's just try again," Kairi said.

"No no, you can't be effective if your heart is in turmoil," Aqua said.

"I definitely wouldn't say it's in turmoil," Kairi said.

"What's happening?" Aqua asked with concern.

"Me and Sora… it's relationship issues… kind of… well… I guess the idea of us being together is starting to sink in that… Light how do I explain it," Kairi questioned, "Sora and I we've been together for so long since we were kids but now we're starting to realize that we're not so little anymore and maybe that scares us."

"You don't sound so sure of what you're saying," Aqua said.

"It's something we're just making complicated on our own," Kairi said.

"Well… perhaps this may be a good time to try meditation," Aqua said.

"And that will help?" Kairi questioned.

"Not in the way you may want, but for many of the strongest spells require that you allow natural magic and sensation to flow through you without thought or judgement. Learning to clear your mind will give you that power," Aqua said.

"Okay I suppose I would like a chance to forget all this stress," Kairi said.

* * *

Sora stood his ground as Ventus unleashed a quick flurry of attacks effectively blocking each attack with tricky sword movements. Ventus leapt up trying to bring down a heavy attack but Sora saw past his feint and dashed forward striking Ventus in the chest.

" _BOOF_ ," Ventus grunted as Sora ran past him hitting his stomach, "lucky shot."

"You should add more variety, you got in a lot of swings but I saw your pattern," Sora said.

"Right, _nngh_ ," Ventus grunted trying to stand, "Maybe hold back a bit next time?"

"I was," Sora said.

"Maybe I should put you back on my work out routine," Terra said.

"I'm not doing that again," Ventus said.

"What's wrong with his work out?" Sora questioned.

"It's literally just moving rocks up a hill," Ventus said.

"It's more than that," Terra said.

"Right, I also get to lift rocks. One rolled right on top of me and broke my nose. Aqua wouldn't let me out of her sight during our training for a month," Ventus said.

"Yeah she really got mad at me for that one," Terra said, "… hey Sora."

"Yeah?" Sora answered.

"Riku thought I should ask you something," Terra said.

"Oh yeah?" Sora questioned.

"Thing is I've hit a bit of a roadblock with my training, I'm still having issues with my darkness," Terra said.

"It's not taking over is it?" Sora asked.

"No, no there's no danger of that happening," Terra said, "Thing is… I can't get a real grasp on it. I'm either forcing too much of it or I'm forcing too little, but I still can't really find that middle ground like Riku," Terra said.

"Huh… have you tried little stuff? Like how's your Dark Fire?" Sora asked.

"Either I use too little Dark that it just comes out as regular Fire or I use too much and it spreads out as shadows," Terra said.

"Huh… well this sounds like a magic controlling problem. Maybe you should talk to Aqua about this," Sora suggested.

"No that's absolutely not going to happen," Terra said.

"What why?" Sora questioned.

"Aqua…. _eeeehhh_ ," Terra trailed.

"Aqua doesn't like Terra right now," Ventus said.

"What?" Sora was surprised.

"No she doesn't hate me, she just doesn't like that I'm… working with Darkness," Terra said.

"What? Why? Oh wait I guess that would make sense seeing what she went through," Sora thought aloud.

"It's more than just being trapped in the realm, ever since we were students Master Eraqus has taught us that we should reject the Darkness completely in all forms almost like we should hate it. Me and Aqua we believed him and tried to follow in his own teachings, but now we've been given proof that the Darkness isn't evil. I think Aqua is still doesn't believe that Darkness can be a force for good," Terra said.

"Wait does she hate Riku?" Sora questioned.

"I… honestly don't know I think she doesn't," Terra said.

"She has a weakness for cute things," Ventus said, "She's not going to hate Riku while she remembers him as a cute kid."

"I… can believe that," Terra said.

"Maybe you really should talk to her then," Sora said.

"She won't want to talk about it," Terra said.

"I know but maybe that's the problem," Sora said, "I mean if Kairi didn't like me being a Keyblade wielder I know I'd have problems being one. Maybe you can't focus if you know Aqua doesn't like it."

"That… there's no way the problems that simple," Terra said.

"I definitely remember Sora solving a lot of problems with something simpler than that," Ventus said.

"… I'm not going to like this," Terra said in realization.

"Yeah Aqua isn't fun when she's mad," Ventus said, "I'm gonna hide when you two talk."

"What no! I need… support," Terra said.

"You just want a buffer to keep Aqua from getting too mad I'm not your persona Chirithy," Ventus said.

"Then can I borrow Chirithy?" Terra questioned.

"NO! I'm not a doll for her to keep hugging," Chirithy said.

"Fine… _ugh_ I'm gonna need some breakfast for this… well lunch now," Terra said.

"Right sorry," Ventus said.

"Ooh hey you got a kitchen, I've been wanting to get back into cooking since I learned," Sora said.

"Do you actually know how to cook?" Terra asked.

* * *

Kairi sat on the floor with Aqua sitting across from her. The two sat cross legged silently trying to accomplish what Kairi thought was a complicated task.

"So… I'm just supposed to think of nothing?" Kairi whispered quietly.

"You must allow your heart free reign without allowing your soul or mind to direct it," Aqua said.

"So… uh… how do I do that?" Kairi asked confused.

"Just think of nothing," Aqua said, "No thoughts no senses just try and keep everything clear and silent."

"Right," Kairi closed her eyes and attempted to keep her thoughts silent.

"… … … … … _am I doin- nothing nothing_ ," Kairi kept trying to keep himself from thinking, "…

…

…

…

…

…

…

_Terry and Krystal_

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

_Sora and Kairi rode_ -."

Kairi gave a shake of her head from the thoughts she nearly had. She saw that Aqua was still in the same position with her eyes closed showing that she hadn't noticed anything happening.

"…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

_Sora_

…

…

…

_Nose_

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

_Clit_ -."

"AUUGH!" this time Kairi gave a loud groan at 'un'plesant thoughts.

"Kairi?" Aqua questioned with worry.

"I don't think I'm going to get through this lesson," Kairi pinched the sides of her head as though she had a headache.

"It's going to take more than one day to just get the basics, though I feel as though I feel as though this relationship problem is more than it seems," Aqua said.

"I'm… it's nothing let's try again," Kairi said closing her eyes once again.

"…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

_What's that smell_?"

"Do you smell that?" Aqua questioned.

* * *

"Jeeze, they're just eggs and yet these look like the best things I'll ever eat," Terra said looking at the rolled omelets Sora had made.

In the kitchen Sora had taken the few ingredients left in the kitchen and made three simple rolled omelets. Perfectly round like a tube and perfectly yellow on all sides.

"These are way better than what I can make and you just tossed everything together like a pro where did you learn to cook?" Ventus asked.

"I helped out a lot at this popular restaurant in Twilight Town back when it was starting out," Sora said.

"You mean the Bistro Xion works at?" Ventus asked.

"Xion's working at the bistro?" Sora asked.

"Hey? Guys?" Aqua showed up with Kairi behind her.

"Kairi Aqua," Sora said happily.

"Is… did we order something?" Aqua questioned looking at the food in front of her.

"No! Sora did this you should check it out," Ventus said excitedly.

"You two want one?" Sora asked.

"Actually yes, it would be nice to eat," Aqua took a seat at the table along with Kairi who sat beside her.

"Alright hold on," Sora said.

Sora took the last of their eggs and whipped them up in a bowl fast enough to cause them to nearly puff up like whip cream. Taking a pan Sora poured the contents into a buttered pan and swirled it around dropping in some pinches of salt and pepper.

"I never knew Sora could cook," Aqua commented.

"Neither did I," Kairi said shocked at what Sora was doing.

In a few short minutes Sora had made two more rolled omelets and plated both of them for Kairi and Aqua.

"Oh man these are better than what Aqua makes," Ventus said already eating.

"I'm right here," Aqua said taking a bite for herself, "And… you're right these are much better than I've ever made," she said in defeat.

"Where in the world did this come from?!" Kairi asked, "I mean the last time you tried cook you put a crab in the microwave now you can just make this?"

"Hey we were just kids then," Sora argued.

"Yes, and you were forbidden from ever entering the kitchen when you somehow blew up the microwave," Kairi said.

"Well like I said I was helping out at the Bistro in Twilight town one of Donald's relatives owns the place and I helped out in the kitchen the chef… how do I say this… kind of used my body to make the food. Like he possessed me," Sora said.

"Possessed?" Kairi asked.

"Like a ghost? Is the chef a ghost?" Ventus asked.

"More like… puppeteer," Sora said, "I'll introduce you guys he's a really nice guy you'd love what he could do."

"So he's not a ghost?" Ventus asked.

"You don't really think that do you?" Terra asked.

"What? Half the stuff we've seen and you think that would be weird?" Ventus asked.

* * *

Later in the day Aqua had concluded her lessons with Kairi, she and Sora had flown home. Aqua hummed to herself as she cleaned the dishes.

"Need some help?" Terra asked entering the room.

"I've got it," Aqua said. Terra ignored her and started drying anyway.

"So… how were lessons?" Terra asked.

"Kairi… she has this amazing potential and she's capable of incredibly strong light magic but… I think her relationship with Sora is hindering her a bit," Aqua said.

"So they are together?" Terra asked.

"Yes, wait why do you ask?" Aqua said.

"I don't think Sora knows they're together," Terra said.

"What makes you say that?" Aqua asked.

"Riku has a little thing going on with Sora getting him to ask her out, Riku's kind of forcing Sora to do it at some point," Terra said.

"What? They're clearly together why would Sora have trouble asking Kairi out?" Aqua asked.

"Maybe I should have asked Sora about that," Terra said, "So Kairi's training is halted at the moment?"

"Yes at the moment, if she doesn't fix this problem then she'll never get light dodging down," Aqua said.

"Oh that, Riku's been trying to teach me that too," Terra said.

"Uh no I mean the light dodge," Aqua said thinking Terra made a mistake.

"No I know, Riku can do his own variant of it," Terra said.

"We're… we're talking about the move where you turn your body into a ball of light for a moment and move quickly a short distance?" Aqua asked dropping the dish she was washing.

"Well he turns into a bit of a white ball of light instead of a golden one so… I guess that would be a dark dodge," Terra said.

"I see, so… darkness can do the same thing," Aqua said sounding sad.

"Is that bad?" Terra questioned.

"No no of course not," Aqua said quickly.

"Do you… oh boy," Terra muttered to himself, "Do you still not like that I'm doing this?" he asked.

"Doing what?" Aqua questioned.

"The whole… mastering the darkness thing," Terra said.

"That's you're decision to make," Aqua said.

"I can't… I'm having trouble controlling it there's been issues getting my power in balnce," Terra said.

"Well, perhaps you weren't meant to use Darkness," Aqua said, Terra caught a hint of hope in her voice.

"Sora says it may be because I don't know how you feel about this," Terra said.

"What? What do I have to do with this?" Aqua questioned.

"I just… can you tell me how you really feel about what I'm doing?" Terra asked.

"Terra you know how I feel," Aqua said.

"No I don't, I need to hear what you feel," Terra said.

Aqua felt as though she should leave, back out of what Terra was trying to get her to admit but he had positioned himself trapping her between the sink and himself.

"… _sigh_ … I don't like it," Aqua admitted.

"Okay that much I figured," Terra said, "Why not exactly?"

"Is it really that hard to figure out?" Aqua asked.

"You're not an easy person to read," Terra said.

"I spent so much time with it," Aqua started, "After everything we went through when our problems started. It was the darkness that kept from graduating together, the Darkness that caused me to lose both of you, and then I had to spend years alone surrounded by nothing but darkness. I know you can see good in Darkness but I just can't all I remember is being forced to go through all those awful things."

"I see… I never knew," Terra said.

"I just feel like what you're doing is an insult to everything we went through and to our Master," Aqua said.

"You don't actually think I'm doing this just to hurt you guys do you?" Terra questioned, "Me loosing control of myself and to the Darkness is what led to part of the problem that's why I want to control it."

"You don't have to use it," Aqua told him.

"It's a part of me now it's not going to go away," Terra argued.

"It's still not the way we were taught," Aqua argued back.

"He made a mistake," Terra said, "I know Master Eraqus spent a lot of our life telling us what to believe but he was still a person who made mistakes."

"So you're just going to ignore everything he taught us after everything he's done for us?" Aqua said.

"I'm not going to forget what he's taught us, he was a father to us I could never forget that, but I'm not going to live my life tethered to his own beliefs especially when I know that there's a better way," Terra said.

"And what happens when you lose yourself to the Darkness again?" Aqua asked.

"That's not going to happen," Terra told her.

"You don't know that," Aqua said.

"I know the chances of it happening are less if I control it," Terra said.

"Which you've just told me you can't," Aqua started.

" _sssstttoooooooOOOOP_!"

Terra and Aqua stopped their argument when they heard a loud noise coming down the hall, as though someone was yelling as they were running to them.

Chirithy appeared from the door giving a few week huffs after running so far.

"You guys need to stop right now," Chirithy said sounding frightened, "You're getting too much Darkness."

Aqua and Terra froze at what Chirithy was saying.

"I knew it," Aqua started, "I knew what you were doing was wrong but you didn-."

"Not him dummy you!" Chirithy pointed.

"What?" Aqua said confused.

"Look at your hand!" Chirithy called out pointing to Aqua.

Aqua took and look at her left hand and for the briefest of moments she saw a very light and faint mist of darkness. Aqua's eyes went wide at the realization and she flicked her hand away from herself as though she had just felt something hot. Terra grabbed onto her hand checking for any sign of what he had also just briefly seen.

"I told you to stop getting so worried about it and now look at you, you let darkness in a lot faster this time," Chirithy said.

"Wait you knew about this?" Terra questioned.

"I've got it under control," Aqua argued taking her hand back from Terra.

"No this isn't something you just know how to control," Terra said, "We're going to see Yen Sid about this."

"What? No I'm fine I just need to-," Aqua started.

"I am absolutely not going to chance this, I know the dangers of this a lot more than you do," Terra told her, "We're cancelling our patrol and you're going to get looked at or I'm telling Ventus about this."

"Wha- NO! He doesn't need to worry about this," Aqua said.

"He won't if you just go and get looked over," Terra told her.

" _nngh_ fine fine," Aqua said annoyed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Took me too long sorry, family and work crap to deal with.
> 
> For those who don't know Chirithy's can sense light and darkness so I think Chirithy would enjoy Kairi's light a lot more than Aqua's. Next chapter wont take as long so be sure to review/comment.


	9. The First Step

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Okay here we go back on track. Now we're back to Sora and Kairi but eventually I'm going to have to mix things up a bit.

"That was… actually nice," Kairi said relaxing in her chair.

After a nice group get together involving training and breakfast with Terra, Aqua, and Ventus Sora began the fly back to their home in his massive Gummi ship. Sora and Kairi were able to, for the moment, forget their weird conversation that morning.

"So… you can cook?" Kairi questioned.

"Yeah," Sora said doing his best to forget about their departing flight.

"What else can you make?" Kairi asked.

"A lot of things, I mean I know a lot of fancy recipes because I made them a bunch of times but I probably can't make many other complicated things. I never actually got told anything I just followed instructions, against my will," Sora said, "How's training going?"

"Oh well… there's a few things kind of hindering me and weighing my heart down a bit," Kairi said.

"Like what?" Sora asked.

"… us," Kairi spoke meekly.

"Oh… right," Sora said.

Once again the ship became silent. Sora kept his gaze forward while Kairi waited for some kind of response.

" _UUUUUGH_ ," Kairi loudly groaned, "This isn't how things are supposed to be."

"What?" Sora questioned.

"Us," Kairi said.

"Uh… us?" Sora asked.

"After everything that's happened, three universe protecting events and a bunch of other things that happened in between. I mean I know I wasn't around or did anything for a bunch of them but I feel like we should have gotten closer after all the stuff we did do," Kairi said.

"Closer?" Sora questioned blushing at what Kairi could possibly mean.

"And now we can't even talk to each other without thinking about how weird things are," Kairi said depressed and sad.

"We're talking now," Sora said trying to cheer her up.

"And then we'll say something suggestive or awkward and go right back to silence," Kairi said, "Maybe we should have just stayed friends if this is really how far we can go with each other."

The sound of Kairi sad and look of her being depressed gave a hard prick in his heart and caused him to forget the strange way Kairi phrased 'friends'. A big part of his heart was saying 'I want us to be together' as though something else from a short distance was calling out to him. There was also the nagging reminder that Riku was threatening him and could ruin what little relationship he and Kairi had at the moment.

"… you… wanna go somewhere?" Sora asked.

"… no I'm just… too tired to deal with all of this," Kairi said slumping sadly in her chair.

"What no come on!" Sora spoke up with a burst of energy, "We're right next to my favorite world right now and we don't have to worry about Heartless attacking our home… probably… I'm sure home will be fine and besides I've been wanting to take you world hoping for a long time now this is the perfect chance. When's the next time we're gonna be free besides next weekend?"

"… well, I suppose," Kairi sounded a little less sad as she reluctantly agreed with Sora.

"Yes, let's go!" Sora turned the yolk of the ship towards a new destination.

"I guess I would like to see what you consider your favorite world," Kairi said.

* * *

"This? Really?" Kairi questioned looking around.

Sora had landed his ship in a place called The Caribbean, a world surrounded by vast oceans and islands. Sora and Kairi had landed on a small island somewhere in the western area that they had charted. Using what little magic he had learned from his friend Donald Sora was able to adjust their outfits to fit in. Sora had his old captain outfit and he was able to adjust Kairi into an old fashioned looking gown dress with a black jacket vest.

The two of them were walking along a beach on a deserted island towards what Kairi thought was a large rock.

"Yeah isn't this place cool," Sora said.

"Sora it's a bunch of islands," Kairi said, "I mean yeah they seem more wild and jungle like but we have all of this back home, islands and water are kind of the reason we all wanted to go see new worlds. I saw your post on Kingdom Hearts those other worlds you took pictures of looked way more fun."

"Yeah but I still like this world it's got pirates," Sora said.

"Pirates? As in stealing and plundering? Sometimes the women are the ones stolen and plundered and more?" Kairi asked sounding worried.

"Yeah, you should meet some," Sora said with the same happy enthusiasm he kept.

"Wow you can just make friends with anybody," Kairi sad Sora didn't catch on her worry.

"They're pretty nice actu- well the one pirate I know Jack Sparrow is pretty nice," Sora said, "He will try and pick pocket you so if he bumps into you check your pockets."

"Well where is he?" Kairi asked.

"We usually bump into him whever we come to this world, he might be at Port Royal way to the east from here," Sora said.

The two of them approached a large mountain like rock facing the sea.

"Well should we go back to the ship and fly to that town?" Kairi asked.

"Nope just let me-," Sora hurried ahead and took a look around a corner, "Yes still here, check it out," he called out to Kairi.

Kairi took a look where Sora was leading her. She found a large cave with a deep pool of water. In the middle of the massive cave was a galleon ship.

"Whoa," Kairi spoke, "Is this yours?"

"Yup, I call it the Leviathan it was a gift from a sea goddess, and it's made of crabs," Sora said.

"I swear if I didn't know you I'd think you were crazy," Kairi said, "Can you even manage and steer a ship this big by yourself?"

"Yup, it's all magic," Sora said.

* * *

The two of them took off into the open and vast waters. Despite living on an island surrounded by water this was Kairi's first time in a ship that was so massive. She went around the boat looking at everything Sora had. She was tempted to start climbing the ropes and stand at the top of the mast as the ship seemed to just zoom through the waters. Though the memories of the last time she was higher than Sora in a dress kept her feet firmly planted at the same level as him.

"So what are the cannons for?" Kairi asked looking over the weaponry, "You didn't go around stealing like a pirate right?"

"No those were just for defense, sometimes we would come across big Heartless ships and need to take them down," Sora said, "Check this out."

* _BOOOM_ * All cannons on the left side suddenly fired without warning. Kairi was startled by the sudden loud noise.

"What- did you do that!?" Kairi questioned still shaken from being startled.

"Yup," Sora answered.

"How?" Kairi questioned.

"Magic," Sora said.

"Where did you even find this magical ship in the first place?" Kairi questioned.

"I think it was given to me by this woman named Tia… or I guess Calypso. She was a sea goddess," Sora said, "Oh check out what other things this thing can do," he said giving a wave of his hand.

Sora gave a demonstration of what the ship could do. They were surrounded by a watery forcefield all around them. The cannons started firing what looked like green wind from the cannons, the ship had suddenly sped up faster despite not feeling any wind behind them.

"Oh I think I'm charged up now! This is my favorite," Sora said.

"Which on-WAAAAH!" Kairi screamed as the entire ship suddenly rose high into the air. The ship gave one spin around before tilting forward like a rocket aiming for the ocean.

"WHOOOO!" Sora hollered in amusement.

"SORA! STOP STOOOOP!" Kairi had grabbed onto Sora from behind as he held onto the wheel of the ship.

_*KA-SPLASH*_ The entire galleon crashed into the sea creating a massive splash soaking both him and Kairi.

Sora continued to laugh from the ride but Kairi was still stuck gripping Sora's neck.

"Wasn't that fun?" Sora questioned still happy.

"NO! Warn me the next time we do something that crazy!" Kairi yelled. Sora just continued to laugh as they sailed on.

* * *

Sora and Kairi had stopped at a nearby island on their way called Sandbar Island a doughnut shaped island of sand overlooked by a small plateau. Sora led Kairi up a few rock platforms that made a path to the top of the plateau.

"So what are we doing here?" Kairi asked, "This island isn't going to suddenly raise out of the sky is it?"

"No there's this hidden area that me, Donald, and Goofy found on this island it's amazing," Sora said.

"If you scare me again-," Kairi began.

"You liked that I saw you laughing," Sora said.

"I still don't like getting startled," Kairi said.

The two of them were at the top of the plateau, Kairi could see for miles around and saw the reef that lied in the middle of the large circle of sand. If she weren't still mad at Sora she would probably think this place as romantic.

"Over here over here," Sora called out leading Kairi to the middle of the area.

"Oh?" Kairi saw what Sora was excited about.

There was a massive pool hidden from the rest of the world inside a massive hole in the ground. A line of rocks jutting around the walls of the room acting as stairs lead down to the water below.

"Alright I admit this is really cool," Kairi said, "How did you find this?"

"I just stumbled across this by complete accident," Sora said.

Come on you gotta see what's down there,"Sora said.

"Why? What's- SORA!"

Sora didn't let Kairi ask as he had already jumped into the water below ignoring the ledges that allowed anyone to step down into the water safely.

* _SPLASH*_ Sora cannonballled into the water with a loud splash. He surfaced the water looking completely fine.

"Come on down!" Sora yelled out.

"Is it safe?" Kairi questioned nervously.

"Yeah it's fine, this isn't any different than back home," Sora said.

"We don't have pools this high down!" Kairi argued.

"What are you scared?" Sora teased.

"Fine fine!" Kairi said. She looked down to the pool realizing how far down it was, but she wasn't going to let Sora have this one over her. Kairi took a running leap and immediately began to feel regret.

* _SPLASH_ * Kairi felt the water rushing past her as she fell into the pool. The water wasn't as cold as before at least.

"Okay that wasn't too bad," Kairi said.

"See," Sora said wading next to her, "now dive down there's more."

Sora dove down into the water, once again before Kairi could ask what he meant. Kairi dove right down after him. Looking under the water there was a small spire of rocks and ahead of here were two caves, one entrance immediately made her think of king Mickey.

Sora swam next to her and grabbed her hand, using his other hand he summoned his Keyblade and began spinning it quickly using it like a propeller to move him and Kairi along the water. Sora led her into one of the underwater caves and showed her what was obviously a pirates stash. Dozens of treasure chest laid barren all over the cave floor.

Kairi was tempted to look around but she didn't get enough air on their first dive. Looking at Sora he seemed perfectly fine under the water but she could already feel her limits. She started pointing up to Sora who got the message and quickly took her back up to the surface.

" _Gasp!_ " Kairi gasped back in air.

"Sorry!" Sora said apologizing, "I usually don't need to worry about my friends breathing when we're under the water."

"Don't usually-? Were you breathing underwater?" Kairi questioned suprised.

"Yeah," Sora admitted.

"Jeezes what can't you do?" Kairi questioned, "Where did you learn to breath underwater?"

"This world actually, I think the sea goddess gave me that blessing. I mean maybe, I'm able to breath underwater anywhere like back at home so I don't think her powers reach beyond this world. Maybe I should ask Herc about this," Sora said

"Why do you keep getting the good stuff?" Kairi asked, "What about all that treasure? Wait is there any left?"

"Oh uh… no I took it all," Sora said.

" _Aww_ , I wanted to open a pirates treasure chest. That's the one good thing I would want to do in a pirate world why did you take it all?" Kairi complained.

"I needed it, I was on a big adventure there were a lot of potions and materials that I could use," Sora said.

"Finding treasure's no fun if there's no treasure," Kairi said, "Well I'm not leaving this place without something," she declared.

"Why?" Sora questioned.

"This is our first time coming here I want something to remember it," Kairi said.

"But all the chest are empty," Sora told her.

* * *

Back on the ship Kairi shook the water out of her new treasure chest Sora had dragged out of the water. Sora and Kairi were both back on the Leviathan heading for Port Royal.

"What are you gonna put in it?" Sora asked.

"I don't know, maybe I'll just use it for storage. Despite being underwater for so long it's still pretty nice," Kairi said.

"Ooh, we should bury it on the island back home," Sora said.

"What? Why?" Kairi questioned.

"We could hide our money there," Sora said.

"That's what a bank is for Pirates hide their treasure because it's usually stolen," Kairi told him.

"Wait what?" Sora froze in realization.

"Don't worry about it," Kairi said knowing how Sora felt, "All that treasure down there was clearly there for a long time, whoever lost all that is probably long gone."

"Maybe I should see if any people nearby have lost anything," Sora said.

"DO NOT go asking people if they're missing anything, you tried that once and got robbed," Kairi said.

"Right," Sora admitted ashamed, "There's the port coming up," he said pointing out.

Off in the distance Kairi could see a town, old fashioned looking with boats a few docks and some big stone brick building far towards the northern section.

* * *

After docking Sora showed Kairi around the port, definitely old fashioned it reminded her of what her home looked like in history books. Boxes and barrels of fruit and spices, horse draw carriages, and dozens of fish nets could be seen.

"Hey if you see any white crabs grab them, they're good for the ship," Sora said.

"What? How?" Kairi asked.

"I told you that's what my ships made of," Sora answered.

"How- never mind the answers probably magic," Kairi said, "So these people are okay with a Pirate walking around?"

"Who?" Sora questioned.

"Wh-You," Kairi said.

"I'm not famous enough as a pirate to get any attention," Sora said, "Oh… hey look," he said suddenly excited.

Sora was pointing over to a blonde haired woman who seemed to dress more regally as though she was a bit of an important figure.

"Elizabeth!" Sora called out getting the woman's attention. Her serious look immediately turned to joy.

"Sora," Elizabeth called back approaching the two, "You're back."

"Yeah, it's good to see you again," Sora said happily, "Kairi this is Elizabeth she helped us out when we came to this world."

"Hello," Kairi greeted.

"Oh so you're Kairi, it's nice to finally meet you," Elizabeth said.

"Oh Sora mentioned me before?" Kairi asked.

"A few moments he did," Elizabeth said, "Though his friend Donald did mention you the first time Sora arrived. He seemed to compare you and Sora to me and Will at the time back when me and Will-."

"ELIZABETH any uh a-any problems happening right now?" Sora called out quickly interrupting her.

" _Sigh_ , there's always problems. Ever since the Davy Jones incident as well as exposing some corruption in the India Trading company there's been no shortage of problems. I offered to help and try to continue where my father left off but it's not easy for a woman to have any say in political matters. Sad to say Sora I don't believe your sword will be of any use," Elizabeth said.

"Oh… sorry," Sora said apologetic.

"It's not your fault, I shouldn't be troubling you with my problems you've done far more and saved us many times," Elizabeth said, "What brings you here to Port Royal anyway? There's no trouble is there?"

"No no I thought I'd take Kairi here to visit my favorite… p-place. We've been having a few issues ourselves so I thought we'd go somewhere fun. Hey is Jack around?" Sora said.

"No he departed not long after everyone else, from what I heard Barbossa even took the Black Pearl from him," Elizabeth said.

"What? Again?" Sora questioned.

"Again," Elizabet stated.

"And… Will? Is he-?" Sora asked nervously.

"Yes, there was no going against the curse. I'll not be able to see him again for another ten years," Elizabeth said.

"Oh… sorry to mention that," Sora apologized.

"What… what are you two talking about?" Kairi questioned unsure whether she should ask or not.

"It's a long story, Jiminy wrote down everything that happened didn't you read it?" Sora asked.

"It was a long journal and we were kind of facing something a lot more important," Kairi said.

"Oh dear," Elizabeth spoke up.

A group of fishermen seemed to be calling out to the water. Sora and Kairi looked out and saw a fishing boat seemed to be elevated out of the water and its net seemed to be caught in something. People around the port seemed worried but nobody was doing anything.

"Those fools, I told them to clean up the wreckage," Elizabeth said.

"What's going on?" Kairi asked.

"A while ago some pirates tried to raid us but we shot down their ship, the ship sunk too close to the port though I brought this issue up but I suppose they ignored me. Now a boats stuck," Elizabeth said.

"Oh I can help them," Sora said taking out his Keyblade.

"Are you certain?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah just give me a second, you mind Kairi?" Sora asked.

"Oh uh no not at all go ahead," Kairi answered.

"Thanks, be right back," Sora answered running off and jumping right into the water. Kairi and Elizabeth just watched as Sora seemed to disappear into the water.

"Every time we go somewhere he has to help someone," Kairi said.

"I've noticed that," Elizabeth said, "Are the two of you…"

"Oh… well… yes but… it's become a bit complicated," Kairi answered.

"How long have you two known each other?" Elizabeth asked.

"Since we were kids," Kairi said, "Though it wasn't until recently we actually got together… its been a bit of an awkward thing between us."

"I know the feeling," Elizabeth said, "My husband Will and I knew each other since we were kids as well, I was on a boat with my father and I saw a sinking pirate ship and Will was there. I'm certain he would have drowned if me and my father weren't passing by at the time."

"Will was a pirate?" Kairi questioned.

"The son of a pirate, but he was far from one he was a kind person growing up and it took nearly losing him before anything happened between us. So much time was wasted between us because we were afraid of what could happen and now I have to wait even longer for him," Elizabeth said.

"Can I… ask what happened?" Kairi questioned.

"Are you familiar with Davy Jones?" Elizabeth asked.

"No," Kairi answered.

"Really? I thought his stories would be common knowledge to all sailors," Elizabeth said.

"Me and Sora are from… really far away," Kairi answered.

"Well Davy Jones was a terrible cursed pirate who preyed on weak sailors, he was a monstrous looking man who was immortal after removing his own heart," Elizabeth said.

"Uh… by heart do you mean a physical one?" Kairi asked.

"Yes… you and Sora seem to have some strange definitions of hearts," Elizabeth said, "During our fight against Jones for the liberation of the sea me, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Will, and Jack all fought against him. He was immortal though so long as his heart remined beating."

"So how can you beat him?" Kairi questioned.

"By destroying his heart, however anyone who destroys Jone's heart will become the captain of his ship the flying Dutchman his ship as well as be cursed by the sea," Elizabeth said.

"What kind of curse?" Kairi asked wary of what she was asking.

"The Flying Dutchman is a ship made to ferry souls lost at sea to the afterlife and it requires a captain to perform its duties, and the Captain of the Flying Dutchman can only step on land once every ten years," Elizabeth said.

"Wait… is Will this captain now?" Kairi questioned.

"During our fight with Jones Will was mortally wounded and nearly died. Jack had wanted to kill Jones himself and become immortal himself but he allowed Will to stab the heart instead," Elizabeth said.

"And now he's cursed?" Kairi asked.

"I wasn't happy about it, but it was much better than losing him forever," Elizabeth said.

"So… now he's gone and you wont' be able to see him again for ten years?" Kairi asked sadly.

"Yes… but I'll gladly wait for him," Elizabeth said.

"There was really nothing you could do?" Kairi questioned.

"As the captain of the Flying Dutchman Will has a duty to help lost souls, he can't just live near the docks," Elizabeth said.

"You couldn't go with him?" Kairi asked.

"No… not as a mortal," Elizabeth said, "Besides a pirate ship isn't any place to raise a child."

"Oh… so you two had kids as well?" Kairi asked surprised.

"No," Elizabeth said.

"What but then-… oh?" Kairi's gaze traveled a bit down Elizabeth.

"Before Will left we made the most of what time we had-," Elizabeth started.

"Right right," Kairi said blushing, "Are you… okay with this though? Does Will even know?"

"No, but I have little choice in the matter. I still have Will and we can all still be a family, and that just makes the little time we do have together all the more precious," Elizabeth said.

"I see," Kairi said still not liking what Elizabeth had to go through.

"Please don't tell Sora about this, I have no doubt he'd do something to try and make up for something that wasn't his fault," Elizabeth said.

"Oh he absolutely would," Kairi said.

"Do you love him?" Elizabeth said.

"S-Sora? Well… y-yes," Kairi hesitated at the word she asked.

"Then don't wait," Elizabeth said, "There were so many moments me and Will could have had together, and now I've lost them all just because the two of us were too afraid of what could happen. Don't make the same mistake that I did."

"W-Well, t-the thing is we… kind of," Kairi tried to find the words to say. She kept trying to think how she and Sora could be as close as Elizabeth and Will but continued to remember the most intimate moment she and Sora had.

"I'm back," Sora called, he was dripping wet from all his swimming.

"Everything go alright?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah they were just caught in a bit of that boat, I broke it down so it won't be any trouble anymore," Sora said.

"Thank you Sora, at least someone here can get something done," Elizabeth said.

"One of the fishermen even gave me this," Sora said holding up a bottle with some liquid in it. Sora pulled the cork off the top and took a small sip.

" _PFFFTH_!" Sora immediately spit out the contents, "What is this!?" he complained in disgust.

"I believe that's rum," Elizabeth said.

" _Yuck_ ," Sora said, "...Kairi are you okay? Are you getting hot?"

"Y-Yes I'm fine," Kairi said quickly.

* * *

After spending more time in Port Royal Sora and Kairi bid Elizabeth farewell before flying off. Kairi examined the treasure chest she brought with her looking for anything that might be wrong with it.

"We gotta do that again sometime," Sora said.

"Maybe visit a different world though? One that's different from ours," Kairi said.

"You didn't like it?" Sora asked.

"Oh no I liked the world, Elizabeth was nice but it was all pretty much the same to Destiny Island," Kairi said.

"Next time we'll meet pirates," Sora said.

"No pirates," Kairi demanded.

"Fine," Sora reluctantly gave in, "San Fransokyo next time then… ooh or Arendelle we should go snowboarding there's so much we can do just the two of us."

"… yeah… just the two of us," Kairi said. Elizabeth's words and advice kept repeating in her head. Elizabeth's story had reminded Kairi just how long the two of them had already been kept apart, it was long to Kairi but she knew it was nothing compared to how long Elizabeth and Will would be apart.

"I should stop being afraid," Kairi declared.

"What did you say," Sora questioned.

Before Sora could think about what Kairi had just said she had taken hold of Sora's pilot seat twisting the seat around so that Sora was facing Kairi.

"K-Kairi?" Sora questioned, he could see that she had some kind of crazed forced bravery look as she began to lean forward.

"What's wrong? Kairi?" Sora tried to call out to her but she didn't say anything as she leaned forward.

"Did you really not like that world… cause I didn't think you'd hate pirates- _nnnNNGH_!" Sora became afraid of whatever Kairi was doing.

"I'm not going to lose you again," Kairi declared before leaning in quickly.

* _KLANG_ *

" _GAAAH_!" " _Ow OWWW_!"

Kairi had missed her mark completely and banged her front teeth against Sora's. Kairi rubbed her fingers along her teeth trying to numb the pain and feel if she caused her teeth to chip.

"W-What was that for?" Sora questioned rubbing his own teeth.

"I was trying to kiss you obviously!" Kairi groaned through the pain.

"Wha- what?" Sora was dumbfounded at what Kairi said.

"I just… _AAAUGH_ we can't do anything together without screwing up!" Kairi angrily yelled.

"Wait wait, why were you trying to kiss me?" Sora questioned softly, still in daze from the pain and what Kairi was attempting.

"Cause that's what couples do," Kairi told him.

"… … we're a couple?" Sora asked.

"What-? Yes!" Kairi said.

"… oh…," Sora was even more surprised than he was before.

"… did… did you not think we were?" Kairi said now confused.

"… I mean… when were we a couple?" Sora asked.

"T-That was the whole point of the Paopu fruit," Kairi said.

"It was?" Sora questioned, "Oh… oooh… OOOOHH!"

"So this whole time… why have you been spending so much time with me then!?" Kairi questioned.

"What? Why wouldn't I? I missed you and I love hanging out with you," Sora said.

" _sigh_ ," Kairi groaned, "You are so sweet but so stupid sometimes."

"Well how was I supposed to know we were together we never talked about it!" Sora said.

"We… okay so that's my fault I guess," Kairi admitted.

"… … you wanna try kissing again?" Sora suddenly asked.

"Wha-?" Kairi blushed at his question.

"I mean… we're a couple now right?" Sora asked.

"Well… yes," Kairi answered.

Sora took ahold of Kairi's arm and suddenly brought her closer to him. Kairi froze at Sora suddenly being forceful but he was frozen in place as well.

"This feels weird," Sora said.

"Just don't talk about it and do it," Kairi told him just as nervous as him.

Sora leaned down and Kairi tilted her head up, their movement was slow and their nervousness had them keep constant eye contact the whole time.

The distance between the two had finally closed and in an instant the two tensed up at the feeling of each others lips.

The moment only lasted a second before Sora pulled away.

"That… wasn't too bad," Sora said still blushing.

"Right," Kairi said just as red as him.

"… can we… try again?" Sora asked.

"I… sure that sounds fine," Kairi said.

"… oh hold on I need to take care of something," Sora said.

* * *

_*Beep beep_ *

Riku heard a message from his gummi phone and took a look. The Kingdom Hearts webpage had gotten an update. Taking a look Sora's page had gotten an update.

**Sora: Just finished a date with my girlfriend. #kairi #couple**

The message came with an image of both him and Kairi giving an awkward but smiling kiss.

"Oh thank light it's over," Riku said.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Took a little longer but a lot less time than before. Was trying to figure out how fast things should go but I guess things are going to go slow. Next chapter we'll see what happens next be sure to comment/review any problems you see.


	10. Inspiration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: That was weird more people like the last chapter in Fanfiction than in AO3. Anyway we got some ground going for Sora and Kairi now we have the Namine Riku chapter.
> 
> This took far longer than I thought it would to type up especially with all the stuff that's been getting in my way sorry I took so long but I didn't want to make this a two parter. Of course now I'll have to give the others a big chapter to.

In Naminé's room Ienzo took a look at the thermometer he had just given the possibly ill girl. She was still in her bed, to her side there was a Dusk standing ready.

"Well looks like you're doing better, you should be fine by tomorrow," Ienzo said.

"You know not to be rude but I could have check my health myself," Naminé said.

"Even wanted a second opinion to ensure a "safe non-contaminated environment", aside from that he doesn't trust you to know what healthy is since you don't know what sick is," Ienzo said.

"I know what sick is I've just never experienced it, I've only been Somebody for a short time and I've already had to experience one of the worst things about being Somebody," Naminé said.

"Oh I'm sure you'll experience many more things, there's negatives to every part of life," Ienzo said, "Take some more pills for the night and you should be good to travel tomorrow with Riku. Just be sure to finish the homework we've given you."

"Are the plastic bags necessary?" Naminé questioned holding some paper and paper sized zip lock bags.

"Even has made his stance on this clear," Ienzo said.

"Is the plastic path to the bathroom still a necessity?" Naminé asked annoyed.

Outside of her room was a pathway of black plastic taped to the ground heading all the way to the nearest bathroom.

"Yes I will admit Even has become a bit intolerable, I know he's going to spray me with the disinfectant as soon as I return," Ienzo said, "But it's only for a little longer. He may be a bit sufferable but he's still concerned with your health at heart."

"He seems more concerned with his own health," Naminé said.

"Yes he does," Ienzo said.

* * *

" _Hrrgh_!" Lea grunted trying to out power Riku against him with his Keyblade. The two were have sparring against each other while Riku kept throwing small Water spells at him.

"You know you don't have to overpower all the time," Riku said holding Lea back as their Keyblades clashed each other.

"I'm bigger than you why are you just as strong as me?" Lea questioned.

"Underestimating your opponent is always a bad thing," Riku said raising a free hand to fire a Water spell that splashed Lea right in the chest.

* _Splash_ * " _Ngh_ , why do you keep making me do things that hurt me?" Lea questioned.

"Pain is great for teaching," Riku said raising his hand up and firing another Water spell.

This time Lea was ready and ducked down and avoided the shot before firing a Fire spell right back at Riku. Riku swung his weapon at the right moment to deflect the fire spell away from him.

"See you're learning," Riku said.

"Not fast enough," Lea said grunting, reaching into his pocket he pulled out a potion and chugged it down like a water bottle, "At least Terra never hit me with water, just uncontrolled Darkness."

"And you'd complain about that anyway," Riku said.

"Yeah yeah, how long till Naminé's better and you go on your business trip?" Lea asked.

"She should be getting better soon," Riku said, "Don't think that when I'm gone it'll be an excuse to slack off on your training."

"I won't, I'll just be glad to stop getting hit for once," Lea said.

"You need to stop standing in place and stop throwing your weapon so much. Transitioning from a frisbee to a sword seems to be difficult for you," Riku said.

"Chakram," Lea said, "I've seen Sora throw his weapon before."

"Only when he's powered it up and not every twelve seconds, I'll tape your hand shut if I have to get the lesson across," Riku said.

* _poke poke_ *

A Dusk had poked Riku getting his attention, the Nobody gave Riku a small envelope.

"Doesn't Naminé have her own phone?" Lea questioned.

"She does, but this is more interesting, takes more time, and she's very bored in bed," Riku said opening the envelope and taking a look at the letter, "And it looks like she'll be clear to fly tomorrow at last."

"You going to that city world still?" Lea asked.

"Yeah, Naminé wants to meet one of Sora's friends. I'm also interested in this Robot that has a heart," Riku said. Taking a pen out of his pocket he wrote a few lines on the letter before handing it back to the Dusk who then floated off.

"Wish I could travel with my friends," Lea said.

"Is Xion still waiting for her weapon?" Riku asked.

"Yeah still waiting, she's working at that Bistro while she waits though so she doesn't feel like a burden to us," Lea said.

"Is that what she thinks about herself?" Riku asked.

"I might be exaggerating a bit… I hope, but we get some nice leftovers and she gets to be part of a fancy restaurant so it's fine," Lea said.

"I keep hearing about that place from Sora, maybe we should do a lesson in Twiliht Town now that I'm not stuck here. Perhaps more friends there will help Xion jump start her Keyblade awakening," Riku said.

"Is that a thing?" Lea questioned.

"It is for Sora," Riku said.

"Well it would be nice to stay close to Xion, I know she's safe but I'm worried about all the attention she's getting when I'm not at home," Lea said.

"Oh is she popular in Twilight Town?" Riku questioned.

"A lot more than I'm comfortable with, apparently she's really unique looking compared to a lot of people. I'm glad she's able to make more friends but there's a bigger chance she'll make the wrong kind of friend. Doesn't help that everyone on her work place path knows her name now," Lea said.

"Are there bad people in Twilight Town?" Riku asked.

"You should meet this prick named Seifer," Lea said, "said my friends could be a danger to her, swear if he tries anything I'll set his place on fire."

"I doubt you need to worry Xion is without a doubt the third strongest person living in Twilight Town I'm positive she'll be fine. Alright talkings over let's get back to work," Riku said, "Water!"

"CRUD!" * _splash*_ Riku's Water spell barely nicked his foot as he dodged.

"There see you really are learning," Riku said.

"I feel like you're doing this on purpose!" Lea complained.

* * *

Naminé laid in bed awaiting a response from Riku. Even with the extra work she had been given by Evan and Ienzo she was able to finish everything quickly driven by the knowledge that she'd finally have a day off to go world hopping with Riku.

"I just wish I had a chance to get something new to wear," Naminé said.

She heard something open her door.

"NO!" Naminé cried to the Dusk that was stepping out of her room, "Do not go steal clothes for me!" she ordered.

The Dusk paused its movement before moving another foot forward.

"NO! Nooooo… NO! BAD!" Naminé commanded. The Dusk gave a depressed sigh before returning to her side, "You guys can't keep stealing it's bad," she scolded.

A minute later and the Dusk that took Naminé's note out had returned. Naminé instantly perked up as the Dusk approached her. It reached into its mouth and pulled out the letter she had sent out.

"Let's see," she said quickly reading Riku's reply.

" _I've got a lesson set up for Lea so I'll be free tomorrow and more if we have to, I'll be waiting early in the morning and we can leave together."_

"Tomorrow at last," Naminé said, "… … …"

The realization began to sink in and Naminé felt as though her fever was returning.

"W-Why am I… I-I shouldn't be feeling this it's just… nothing's different we've done things together all the time!" Naminé argued.

One of the Dusk pressed a moist cool cloth to her head.

"No I'm fine I don't need this I'm not sick," Naminé pushed the Dusk away, "You guys have been getting so clingy lately I'm not going to break apart."

* * *

Naminé woke up early for her trip, her stuffy nose and vertigo riddled headache were finally gone assuring her that she would be free to travel without worry. Packing up all the necessities she would need for her research in a small white sling back pack. Heading out the castle Riku was already waiting with the small Gummi ship.

"You ready?" Riku asked her.

"Yes… it's so exciting to finally go off and travel," Naminé said, "Oh… I-I should do what you guys always do and take a picture," she took out her Gummi phone and held it up.

"I… just need…. _Nnnngh_!" Naminé found it difficult for her short arms to take a picture of her and tall Riku.

"I got it," Riku said holding up the phone for her and snapping a picture of the two of them with the small Gummi Ship behind them.

* * *

Riku entered in the coordinates for San Fransokyo and began the trip through space. Naminé finished writing up her post for Kingdom Hearts and sent it. Looking over the website she saw a few past event that had been posted as well.

"Sora and Kairi finally went out, I was wondering how long that would take," Naminé said looking over Sora's latest post, "You said they didn't know they were together?"

"Sora didn't take the Paopu fruit thing as a romantic intention," Riku said.

"What? If two people share one they're together forever how could that not be seen as romantic?" Naminé asked.

"Sora really needs things to be clearly said to him," Riku said, "Also it might be my fault a bit, I did tease him with it and gave him one when we were kids so he might have been confused at the meaning."

"Wait you gave one to him?" Naminé questioned with a bit of worry but then started giggling a bit, "So… you and Sora?"

"He didn't give me one back it doesn't count," Riku said but Naminé continued to laugh.

"Maybe I should warn Kairi?" Naminé teased.

"Do NOT tell her anything I don't need my two friends teasing me," Riku said.

"I won't," Naminé said, "You ever think about getting a bigger Gummi Ship?"

"Why? This is all I really need," Riku said.

"But it's so cramped, and you can't really store a lot of things. Have you seen the size of Sora's ship?" Naminé asked.

"A lot of the parts that Sora has for his ship can't be bought, he found them going on his adventures," Riku said.

"Then we should go on some to," Naminé said.

"By adventures I mean he fought a lot of Heartless in space, some the size of fortresses and I'm definitely not taking you on a combat adventure," Riku said.

"I can defend myself," Naminé said.

"Can you summon a weapon?" Riku asked.

"I… _ngh_ no, I unfortunately didn't get Kairi's ability to wield a Keyblade," Naminé said disappointed.

"… Did you want one?" Riku asked, "I mean I can give you the power."

"Well… no actually," Naminé said, "I would like to fight but I think I'd help a lot more people working with science, besides I think we have enough Keyblade Wielders."

"Well we should get you something to fight with if you're going to be traveling more. You think you can learn magic? Is your memory power magic or… science explainable?" Riku said.

"That's half the reason we're doing this research," Naminé said, "Honestly I was just born with these powers I don't know why I have them. Kairi doesn't have any powers over memories so why would I?"

"Cause she's… a princess?" Riku suggested.

"That's an idea but being a princess of light just means having a heart with no Darkness there's no obvious connection to memory abilities with having a pure heart," Naminé said, "There's very little information on Princess's of Heart I want to learn more but Ansem absolutely refuses to do any invasive or direct research on the princesses."

"Kairi might let you take a peek at her heart," Riku said.

"It would have to be in secret and I don't want to betray Master Ansem's trust," Naminé said.

"… Are you a Princess of Heart?" Riku asked.

"What? No why would you think that?" Naminé gave a slight laugh at the idea.

"I mean you were a part of Kairi and then you got your own Heart," Riku said.

"I'm more of the body of Kairi not her Heart, a pure body of light isn't the same," Naminé said.

"Would it have any similarities?" Riku asked.

Naminé paused a second and took a look at her hand.

"I was actually kidding about having a body of light but now I might take some time to look over myself closer. Maybe being from pure light would explain why I have such a light and pale complexion unlike Kairi," Naminé said.

* * *

The world soon came into view and already both Riku and Naminé couldn't stop staring at the sight of hundreds of tall buildings and structures crowded together. Passing through the large bridge Riku and Naminé stealthy hid their ship between two large buildings and emerged completely unnoticed by anybody.

"This place really is amazing, no wonder Sora likes it here," Riku said looking around, "I've never seen so many cars in one place."

"This world does seem very advanced," Naminé said, "Well not advanced more progressive, I wonder if Radiant Garden would look like this if we were able to expand our areas."

"We'll have to reduce the Heartless problem first," Riku said.

"So where do we go from here?" Naminé asked.

"We're looking for a hero team called Big Hero 6," Riku said, "This world is protected by a group of hero's that Sora worked with, he said that they usually patrol the area around here so we should be able to find them."

"He didn't give you a location?" Naminé questioned.

"Apparently he didn't want to give away the Superhero's secret hideout," Riku said.

"This must be a very professional team, will we even be able to get their attention?" Naminé said.

"I'll get them to listen to us, besides they're Sora's friend I'm sure they'll listen," Riku said.

* * *

Though Naminé knew she was here for a reason the allure of the world they were in continued to occupy her attention. Riku and Naminé continued to walk through the city looking around for any sign they could about the Superheros but so far the city seemed relatively quiet and peaceful. Certainly not in a state to call out for any rescue teams.

"Dang it Sora why can't you just tell us where to find your friends," Riku said annoyed, "Maybe I should call him again tell him he's just making this difficult."

"… …"

"Naminé?" Riku called. Looking back he saw a few feet away that something in one of the buildings display windows had caught Naminé's eye, "Looking at something?"

"What? Oh no it's nothing?" Naminé said catching up to Riku.

"Oh really?" Riku started walking back despite the sudden protest of Naminé. Looking at the same window she was he saw that she was looking inside a clothing store.

"Really?" Riku questioned.

"Don't judge me," Naminé said back.

"No no I just really didn't see you as the shopping or fashion type," Riku said.

"Well normally no but I've been wearing the same dress for a long time now and it's really plain and boring compared to what all of you are wearing," Naminé said.

"So you wan to go shopping then?" Riku asked.

"No that's fine, we need to keep looking," Naminé said.

"We've got all day," Riku told her.

"No no I shouldn't be wasting our time with- hey-HEY!" Naminé cried out when Riku started dragging her forcefully by the hand.

* * *

Naminé sorted through different racks of dresses, shirts, and pants that she thought she would like. A lot of the stuff she picked out seemed strange or too normal for her taste but eventually she did see something she liked.

"I think I want this one," Naminé said looking over herself in front of a mirror.

"This one looks like the one you usually wear," Riku said. Despite changing outfits the dress she wore looked like her usual plain white strap dress.

"Yeah but this one has frills and sewed in flower designs along the top and bottom lining," Naminé said giving Riku a closer look.

"Oh… it does, but you can't really see all that without looking up close, its white on white," Riku said.

"I still want to get it, it'll be nice to finally have something new to wear that doesn't feel like it's made of cheap cotton, how much is this one?" Naminé took a look at the tag, "Oh… wow things out here are a lot more expensive."

"Is that really too much?" Riku asked looking over the price tag.

"It's well over my allowance," Naminé said, "It's fine, I don't really need it anyway."

* * *

Naminé had changed back into her usual outfit and exited the store a bit disappointed that she couldn't buy anything. The world here was doing so well for itself that the prices seemed to be much more than she was used to in her own still recovering homeworld.

"Well let's continue," Naminé said.

"Yeah let's see what else this world has," Riku said walking out holding a small bag with him.

"Wait did you buy… Riku!" Naminé complained.

"You said you wanted it," Riku said holding up the shopping bag containing the new dress Naminé wanted.

"I can't afford it, and I can't pay you back anytime soon," Naminé told him.

"You've done more than enough for all of us, and trust me money isn't that big of an issue for me," Riku said.

"I don't need it though," Naminé said.

"Well you can return it if you want," Riku said, "But to do that you'll need the recipt," he said holding up a small paper.

"Fine I will," Naminé said.

* _fwoosh_ * Naminé reached out for the piece of paper but before she could touch it Riku engulfed it in a small burst of dark fire.

"RIKU!" Naminé yelled.

"Welp looks like you're stuck with it," Riku said smirking.

"What if I ruin it?" Naminé questioned.

"Then I'll just buy you another one," Riku said matter of factly.

"Don't spend so much money on me!" Naminé said back.

"Then take good care of my gift," Riku told her.

Naminé grumbled at his words knowing that she was now stuck with an expensive dress.

"Thank you," Naminé said still sounding annoyed.

"So you hungry?" Riku asked her.

"I suppose, but I'm buying my own lunch," Naminé demanded.

"That's fine," Riku agreed, "Sora said that the food here was a bit weird."

* * *

"Huh… this does looks weird," Riku said.

He and Naminé were standing outside some place that looked like a dinner. The sign said "Noodle Burger" and on top was what looked like a little boy with what Riku assumed was a Noodle Burger for a head.

"Huh… that does look like a weird combination of foods," Riku said.

"Oh I think this is one of those chain restaurant things," Naminé said.

"Chain restaurants?" Riku questioned.

"Basically a bunch of the same restaurants owned by one or multiple people all over a world," Naminé said.

"You been to one?" Riku asked.

"No I just studied it," Naminé said.

"Why would you need to know something like this?" Riku questioned.

"I wanted to understand financing a bit for myself, I also looked into ways other people make money. You don't have these kinds of restaurants back home?" Naminé asked.

"No, islander remember? Didn't have a lot of lucrative businesses or buildings and just a few honestly homestyle restaurants," Riku said, "It does smell good from here."

Riku and Naminé were about to enter the place but two people were exiting at the same time. A Young blonde woman and a man wearing a green beanie both carrying bags with the restaurants name on them.

"Oh pardon us," Riku said allowing the two to pass.

"Oh sorry aboooooouuuuuuu-," the young woman started but suddenly paused when her and Riku's eyes met.

"… hello?" Riku said getting her attention as she continued her sentence.

"Whoa dude you look just li- _hACK_!" the man in a beanie tried to say before he was forcibly tugged by the woman who looked afraid.

"Hmm?" Riku saw that the two of them had dropped their bags, "Hey! HEY!" he called out but they didn't respond to them and just continued on.

"Do you know her?" Naminé asked.

"No, I've never been to this world. Maybe she's a traveler?" Riku said.

"No her form definitely fits the people of this world," Naminé said.

"It's probably nothing… I mean I remember saying that a lot and then later finding out it's something but there's nothing we can do until something actually happens," Riku said.

"Um… okay? What should be do with that?" Naminé said looking at the to go bag the woman had dropped.

"I'll just leave it at the front maybe they'll come back for it," Riku said.

* * *

The place was nice for Riku, having lived his life on an island and never truly getting a chance to enjoy other worlds it was a treat to try the different food it had to offer. Taking a plastic tray of two burgers, fries, and a cola and lemonade the two of them sat at a booth.

"This… is actually pretty great," Riku said taking a second bite of his strange burger.

"This is pretty cheap food material," Naminé said giving her sandwich a look over, "But it's still good, nothing wrong with this once in a while."

"Is it really unhealthy?" Riku questioned.

"The majority of this is clearly cheap fatty beef and salt, chain restaurants usually aren't healthy in the least. That's probably why everyone back at your home looks so fit and good," Naminé said.

"How do you know what everyone back home looked like?" Riku questioned.

"Oh um… half residual memory from Kairi and well when I messed with Sora's Memories," Naminé said ashamed.

"Oh right… oh man that was weird going through those worlds in the castle," Riku said, "You sure you need to practice you seemed pretty good at memory manipulation before."

"I took memories apart and made something different, I needed a machine and a lot of help from you and Ansem to put Sora back together, which would be incredibly inefficient when you count the number of Heartless there are," Naminé said.

"Right right," Riku said, "You know we don't hold all that memory manipulation against you right?"

"I'm still going to hold it on myself regardless," Naminé sighed.

* * *

After a while the two of them had exited the restaurant.

"Oh man that was good, but I think I see what you meant when you said it wasn't healthy now," Riku said patting his stomach.

"It was nice," Naminé agreed, "But now we should get back to work looking."

"Or we could take another look over there," Riku said pointing to a completely different clothing store.

"No, NO! Absolutely not," Naminé said.

"Come on, I'm also realizing that you always wear the same thing," Riku started tugging on her arm again.

"No No NO! I don't want you to be buying things for me!" Naminé protested but was far too weak to fight against Riku, "This is kidnapping!"

"Then I'll bribe you not to press charges," Riku said.

"… you made that-," Naminé started.

"Yeah that sounded a bit weird I realize that saying it out loud," Riku said.

* _CRASH_ * * _CRASH_ * As the two of them were arguing something had appeared and shocked the two of them. Coming from the sky two enormous red beings suddenly dropped down, Riku instinctively took ahold of his Keyblade and got in front of Naminé.

"What is this?" Riku questioned keeping an eye on the two Red Robot looking figures.

"What are you doing back here?!"

From the back of one of the red beings jumped off a young boy wearing a suit of blue armor that looked familiar to the red robots. Riku could see that the young boy didn't look happy to see him.

"Who are you?" Riku questioned.

"Who- Are you serious!? After what you put me and my team through!?" the young boy almost yelled at him.

"What?" Riku questioned. When the boy mentioned a team he took a look at his surroundings, he could see that he was now surrounded by four more strange looking people.

Some girl in yellow with small round shields on her hands and legs, she looked like she was competing in some sporting event.

There was another man in green armor with some green light looking 'blades' on his arms. Riku could feel some energy coming out of them.

There was a blue… monster with three eyes, but looking closer Riku could tell it was just some costume.

"Wait you?" Riku saw the same girl who he passed at the Noodle Burger wearing pink with a purse that had a bunch of multicolored balls on it.

"Looks like you were right Honey Lemon," the one in green said.

"Honey Lemon? Is that an actual name?" Riku questioned.

"What are you doing back here again!?" the young boy in blue asked, "You here to do more heart experiments!?"

"Uh… actually yes? Wait who are you guys?" Riku questioned.

"Who's the girl?" the boy asked.

"uh… my friend," Riku said still confused at what was going on.

"Didn't seem that way when she called out kidnapper," the boy said.

"Oh uh," Riku just recalled the situation the two were in a minute ago, "Okay I know that may have looked bad-."

* _WHOOSH_ * in a blur of yellow Naminé had suddenly disappeared from behind Riku.

"NAMINE" Riku yelled.

"I got the girl!" the woman in yellow called out, in her arms she was carrying Naminé.

"Huh?" Naminé was still confused to how she had suddenly moved.

"Get her out of here we got this!" the boy yelled.

"On it I'll be back!" the woman in yellow said.

"Wait! Riku!" Naminé called out but she was already out of earshot.

"GET BACK HE-!" * _SPLAT_ *

Riku suddenly felt his feet get splashed by something. There was a clear pinkish substance coating the ground keeping him in place.

"The heck is this!?" Riku questioned trying to lift his leg up.

"Thought we were the same as before didn't you lord of Darkness," the 'monster?' taunted, "We've been preparing for the day of your inevitable re-arrival, ready to thwart the powers of Darkness should the need arise again."

"Okay whoever you are I think I'm missing a lot of context," Riku said.

"Baymax's we're taking him in," the boy said.

"Roger." "Roger." The two now enormous up close robots said approaching Riku.

"Yeah no," Riku said, "Dark Fire!"

* _BOOM*_ Riku shot two blast of dark fire at the Baymax's causing them both to be blasted back.

"BAYMAX!" the boy yelled.

"Oh no." "Oh no."

"Whoa did you see that? That was like magic but dark! He has dark magic that's awesome!" the monster said.

"Wait why do you know about magic! Has Sora been spouting stuff again!?" Riku said.

Riku could hear the rushed stomping of the green man closing in on him. He swung down his glowing blades at Riku who blocked both of them with his Keyblade.

"Whoa wait, is this a Keyblade! Did you steal Sora's tech!?" the man asked.

"Oh for-! He IS spouting secrets again!" Riku complained, "Also you know Sora!?"

* _POOF_ * The green man jumped back as a small ball exploded causing a blue mist around Riku. The gunk under his feet suddenly rose up and hardened like rock. When the dust cleared Riku saw that he was now trapped in what looked like a blue crystal.

"Got him!" the girl Riku believed was Honey Lemon said.

"Listen to me listen to me there's been a mistake! I'm Sora's friend!" Riku called out stuck in place.

"We're not falling for that," the boy said.

"Okay you know what," Riku started.

In the span of less than a second Riku's body seemed to shrink into a small ball of grey light, it phased right through the crystal and reformed three feet to the left right back into Riku.

"Whoa he just moved out of that!?" the green one questioned.

"Some kind of short ranged teleporting!?" the boy said.

"Can we talk now? You can clearly see that your weapons don't work on me," Riku said.

* _BAM_ * A rocket punch blindsided Riku knocking him hard into a building wall. The stone Riku crashed into cracked a bit from his impact.

"… _ow_ ," Riku groaned.

"Baymax, how's he look?" the Boy asked.

"He has suffered no scarring or broken bones," Baymax said.

"You kidding me? How tough is this guy?" the man in Green asked.

"Oh so you're those kinds of hero's," Riku grunted getting back up, "Well that's good for me."

"Take him down!" the Boy yelled.

Honey Lemon threw out more of her balls at the ground near Riku that exploded on impact creating a large dust cloud. The monster let loose a bellow of flame into the smoke screen, Riku felt the heat and dodged once again.

"Blizzard!" Riku yelled.

A clump of ice hit it's target on the monsters mouth barely knocking him back but freezing over the opening.

"Aw crud my flames are jammed! Then try my ice powers!" the Monster said.

*FWOOSH* Around the monsters top eye a jet of icy wind blew up. The top portion was blown off showing off the boy inside the suit with an ice layered face. It seemed that with the mouth frozen over the ice had nowhere to go but up in towards the suit.

"B-b-b-b-bad idea," he commented with chattering teeth and blue skin.

A series of laser shots started raining down on Riku who kept running to avoid them but was corralled to the two red Robots Baymax.

"Hammer Fist!" the first Baymax brought down a punch to Riku who held his Keyblade up. The force was pretty heavy but Riku held on.

"Back kick!" the second Baymax tried to take advantage of Riku's state and tried to kick him but Riku once again did a Dark Dodge completely passing the two of them. Both Baymax's raised their fist to fire their rockets are Riku.

"Barrier!" Riku held his Keyblade forward. A wall of hexagonal lights surrounded him as the fist impacted on the magical wall. Riku grunted trying to keep the barrier up from the rockets.

"Wh-AH!" * _CLANG*_ Riku's Keyblade was suddenly snatched up by the boy. His palms must have had some powerful magnets. Riku jumped away from the boy and summoned his Keyblade back in his hands.

"His weapon can teleport!?" the boy questioned.

More lasers fired at Riku who continued to dodge them.

"HYAH!" Riku swung his weapon like a chakram right at the man in green striking him in his left arm and making some noticeable damage.

"Aw man, he busted my arm!" the man in green said.

"Okay! Let's see what else I can break," Riku said getting in a fighting stance.

* * *

"Wait wait! Please stop!" Naminé cried as she was carried away from the fight.

"You can't go back there, that guy is bad news," the woman said.

"He isn't dangerous he's my friend!" Naminé said.

"You don't know that guy like we do he tried to hurt me and my friends with these Heartless creatures," the woman said.

"Riku isn't like that he's never summoned heartless befo-… uhhh-… how long ago did this happen?" Naminé questioned.

"Not to long, a few weeks ago," the woman said.

"Then it definitely wasn't him he hasn't done that in a long time!" Naminé said.

"Then he's lying to you he did it not too long ago we saw him do it!" the woman concluded.

"No that's not-! _Rrrgh_!" Naminé grumbled at the stubborn woman, "Only… _mnngh_ I got to help Riku."

Naminé took ahold of the woman's head like she was hugging her.

"Uh… what is-?" the woman started.

"Just and hour, just an hour," Naminé repeated to herself with worry and concentration.

"What are you-? I need to see where I'mrry up I'm staAAAAH!"

* _CRASH_ * The woman suddenly tripped and fell as though she had forgotten that she was on the road her legs just gave out. Naminé curled up as her body rolled dozens of feet on the hard pavement.

" _Nnngh_?" Naminé groaned in pain looking over herself, she skidded a bit at the beginning on her right arm which left a bleeding scar leading down from her shoulder to her elbow but she was fine none the less.

"Wha-what!?" the girl in yellow looked like she was freaking out, "Where am-! I-I was just in the lab-!? What's going on!?"

Naminé tried to ignore the woman and return to Riku holding on to her bleeding arm, but she was too slow to outrun her.

"HEY hey! What's going on who are you? What was I just doing!?" the woman asked her.

"U-Uh… !?" Naminé didn't know what to say.

"Hey your arm is- was I just- did I hurt you!?" the woman said worried.

"N-No I'm fine!" Naminé said.

"We need to get you bandaged up, maybe I should get some help to," the woman said.

"I can't go my-… My friend is in trouble he's being attacked," Naminé lied kind of.

"What?" the woman in Yellow looked worried for her now.

"Please I need to get back to him," Naminé asked her.

"Okay yeah, which direction," the woman said.

* * *

"Round house." "Knife hand." "Back kick." "Hammer fist." "Side Kick."

Both Baymax's attempted to attack and take down Riku who was able to block and dodge every move thrown at him with expertise.

* _CLANG_ * Riku thrust his weapon at the left Baymax right at his head. His weapon passed right around the neck area he felt that he had nicked something but nothing heavy or metal.

"Now I'm getting annoyed, I don't want to hurt you but-… I… what is that?" Riku started before a blowing sound started to annoy him.

* _fweeeeeeeeeeeeee_ * Riku saw the head of the left Baymax seemed to deflate inside the helmet.

"Baymax!?" the boy yelled in concern.

"I have suffered a tear in my neck area, I am currently loosing air," left Baymax said.

"They're ballons?" Riku questioned.

"Guys what's- Wait what!?"

The woman in yellow had returned, Riku saw that she was carrying Naminé once again but he also saw a bloody mark on her arm.

"Gogo!? Why are you back here we told you to get her out of here!" the boy yelled.

"You… did?" the woman Gogo said confused.

"Naminé!?" Riku said concerned when he saw how hurt she was.

"I-I'm fine!" Naminé said nervous.

"Wait you're friends with that guy- you!"

Naminé yelped as the woman Gogo suddenly dropped her and held one of the disc close to her. Naminé saw that the disc seemed to be floating on her hand and it started spinning.

"Gogo! What are you doing!? She's a hostage!" the boy yelled.

"No she's not! Why does it seem I forgot the last hour!?" Gogo said, her tone seemed to threaten Naminé.

"U-Uh!?" Naminé couldn't figure out an excuse.

"What are you talking about you were with us!" Honey Lemon yelled out.

"I don't remember that at all! I think this girl is bad news!" Gogo said angrily.

"Dark Fire!" * _BLAST_ * Gogo was knocked back by Riku's magical attack allowing him to get close to Naminé once again and defend her.

"Cheap Shot," Gogo grunted getting back up.

"If any of you even think of hurting her I WILL take you down, hard," Riku threatened them all.

"Oh it's on now… soon as… come on!" the green one banged on his arm trying to get the other laser to work.

"Keep away from that girl I think she can manipulate your memory!" Gogo said.

"I'm sorry! It was just an hour!" Naminé apologized.

"She has memory manipulation? Can she mess with the brain?" the boy questioned.

"She doesn't look like a fighter though we should focus on him," Honey Lemon said taking out a few more balls.

"Naminé get behind me," Riku said, she got back up and got right behind Riku, "Let me know if that Gogo tries to get you… are your names made up?"

"Baymax," the boy ordered.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" the monster came out of nowhere and jumped in between Riku and the hero's.

"What now?" the boy asked annoyed.

"We can't attack him like this," the monster said gesturing to Riku like he was presenting a new car, "You saw how he was and how he is now. The threatening pose in front of the inured damsel. He's protecting a friend."

"So what?" the boy said.

"That's not what villains do at all," the monster said, "It's a clear sign that this man has had a change of heart and is most likely on the side of good."

"He's good now?" Honey Lemon questioned.

"The dude was attacking us look at my arm!" the man in green pointed to his broken arm.

"You attacked first!" Riku yelled.

"That girl messed with my mind!" Gogo said.

"I-I just wanted to get back to my friend," Naminé said.

"Guys wait, Fred are you sure," the boy asked.

"Positive, villains don't protect," Fred said.

"He… did seem to not do anything bad when I saw him," Honey Lemon said.

"All you just STOP!" Riku yelled out annoyed, "I don't know what's going on, real quick just someone tell me what you think is going on!?"

"You… came back to attack us?" the boy said.

"When did I attack you!?" Riku asked still angry.

"… the… around three weeks ago?" the boy said.

"This is my first time in this place- you know what you're all friends with Sora right?" Riku asked.

"Yeah," the boy said.

"Hold on," Riku got out his phone. In a few seconds he pressed a button and the sound of ringing could be heard.

" _Hello_?" Sora said from the phone.

"Sora?" the boy questioned.

"Hey Sora you're on speaker phone, I'm talking with what I assume is Big Hero 6 team," Riku said.

" _Oh hey guys!"_ Sora called out.

"Uh… Sora hey," the boy was now confused to what was happening.

" _Hiro hey guys, where's everyone_?" Sora asked.

"Hey." "Hello." "Hey." "Hey Sora!" everyone of the hero's gave a quick and confused greeting to Sora.

" _Hey guys, where's Baymax_?" Sora asked.

"Hello." "Hello Sora." the Baymax's greeted with a light circular wave.

" _Hey Baymax_ ," Sora greeted.

"Sora why did your friends attack me?" Riku questioned.

" _What_?" Sora questioned.

"When I came to this world one of your friends took a look at me and seemed to freak out and run away. A while later your favorite super hero team tries to take me down because your friends seem to think that I attacked this place a while ago-," Riku started.

" _OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN_!" Sora began to panic, " _Okay so a back when I came here your replica attacked here trying to do experiments on a heart. And he may have been attacking the city and my friends I guess they mistook him for you."_

"Yeah that would have been nice to know," Riku said.

"Replica? Wait like a clone?" the boy questioned.

" _Well more like-_ ," Sora began.

"YES! A clone," Riku answered for him.

" _So… did they really attack y_ -?" Sora started.

"YES SORA! They thought I was an enemy and attacked us! Naminé is injured!" Riku said.

"I-It's not that bad," Naminé said.

"You're bleeding!" Riku said.

" _I am so sorry I didn't think they'd try and hurt you… wait isn't Baymax with you_? _Can't he help?_ " Sora asked.

"What the flying fighter jet? What's he going to do?" Riku questioned.

"I am equipped with an antibacterial spray of Bacitracin," one Baymax said. Approaching Naminé Baymax pointed his finger at the scar on Naminé's arm and began spraying something that help soother Naminé's pain.

"That… actually feels better," Naminé said.

"One a scale of one to ten how would you rate your pain?" Baymax asked, underneath his chest plate Naminé thought she saw something lighting up but couldn't see it.

"Uh… right now maybe a low four high three?" Naminé said.

"I recommend washing the wound and applying a bandage over the damaged tissue to avoid infection at the earliest time," Baymax spoke.

" _He's the coolest isn't he_?" Sora commented listening to Baymax.

"Sora why didn't you tell me your friends were attacked by a copy of me!?" Riku was still annoyed at him.

" _I forgot okay? I didn't think it would be that relevant,_ " Sora said.

"Sora wait!" the boy Hiro started, "So… this guy isn't a threat?"

" _No nonononono_!" Sora exclaimed, " _This Riku is a different Riku he's good, he's my best friend_."

"That might change Sora they tried to kill me and Naminé!" Riku yelled.

"We weren't going to kill you," Hiro said.

"Yeah just beat you up very nearly," Gogo said.

"N-Not helping Gogo," Hiro said.

" _Guys I am really sorry for_ -." * _beep_ * Riku just hung up on Sora not caring about his apology.

"He's going to be the death of me," Riku said annoyed, "So we're all good now right? No need to fight?"

"Right yeah uh… s-sorry," Hiro apologized, "So… uh I'm Hiro," he said extending out his hand.

"… … Riku," he said reluctantly taking his hand.

* * *

After an awkward and peace kept meeting Hiro took Riku and Naminé to his garage. Getting patched up Naminé now had a roll of gauze around her arm. Hiro as well as the others all changed to their casual outfits from their Hero outfits.

"Right so… welcome to my garage," Hiro started, "I'm Hiro like I said, that's Gogo, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Fred, and Baymax."

"Hey." "Hello." "Hi." "What's up." "Hello." "Hello."

"So… you're the good Riku then?" Hiro asked.

"Yes," Riku said still wary of what could happen.

"Oh boy, listen I am really really sorry about what happened there it's just the last time your clone kind of tried to take Baymax from me and he really hurt all of us," Hiro said.

"It's fine it's fine," Riku said still annoyed at the situation, "So… you're Big Hero Six that Sora's been talking about a lot.

"Oh yeah he was a real fan," Hiro said, "How's team Keyblade Hero Three doing?"

"… team what?" Riku questioned.

"Keyblade Hero Three? Sora's team name for him Donald and Goofy?" Hiro asked.

"That's a terrible team name," Riku said.

"...It did seem like he made it up at the time," Gogo said.

"Anyway what brings you guys here? You sounded like you were looking for us?" Hiro asked.

"Oh that was for me," Naminé said, "We were told you have a Robot with a Heart?" she asked.

"Huh… that's what clone Riku said about Baymax," Hiro said, "Um who are you?"

"And how did you mess with my head?" Gogo questioned.

"Oh uh sorry," Naminé said, "I'm Naminé and I kind of have the ability to alter memories."

"I could tell," Gogo said.

"Alter memories? As in… by yourself? With no machines or devices?" Hiro questioned.

"Well… yes," Naminé said.

"Whoa, sounds like a real super power," Fred said.

"Is this like that magic stuff Sora and his friends can do?" Honey Lemon asked.

" _sigh_ he really did spout that stuff out," Riku said once again annoyed.

"That's… kind of the thing I'm hoping to learn," Naminé said, "My abilities are a bit unknown to me. They manipulate the memories of the Heart but I don't really understand how and I don't have very many chances to do it my teachers don't want me testing them on people, as do I… not want to," she spoke nervously.

"You're a student to? What school?" Hiro asked.

"Oh well… I don't go to a school I'm both assisting and being taught by three different professors of science," Naminé said.

"Sounds nice," Hiro said, "So what do you need Baymax's Heart for?"

"Well I don't need his heart, me and my teachers are trying to create a simulated heart that will allow me to practice and use my powers on. Once I fully master them I can help a lot of people," Naminé said.

"Well… I don't know all about this heart stuff but I guess I could let you take a look at Baymax's programing," Hiro said.

"You think you can use those powers on me to give me my hour back?" Gogo asked.

"Uh… sorry but putting memories back together does take a lot of time and equipment," Naminé said.

"Figures, did I do anything important earlier? You know after we talked about lunch," Gogo asked.

"No just usual stuff we do in the lab," Wasabi said.

"Wait so you could make us forget stuff," Fred asked suddenly excited.

"Well in theory yes," Naminé said.

"Oh man you gotta make me forget the endings to all my favorite movies, I gotta relive that ending to Defenders and Space Wars!" Fred said.

"Could you make me forget the things Fred has forced me to imagine?" Wasabi asked.

"There's this song that's been stuck in my head for three years now! I'm actually concerned about it!" Honey Lemon said.

"I'd rather not try anything, I'm still getting fully used to my ability," Naminé said.

"How did you get your powers? Was it nuclear radiation? Were you in an accident with a brain scanning device? Experimental memory enhancing serum? Were you bitten by a mind controlling alien?" Fred questioned.

"No, those all sound like they would kill me," Naminé said.

"Can we just move on to the part where we get what we need?" Riku asked impatient.

"Right sure, uh Naminé over here I got a copy," Hiro said booting up his computer.

* * *

Riku leaned against the opposite wall to Naminé as she and Hiro began looking over Baymax's coding. A few seconds into their conversation and Riku was already lost in their language and just let the two talk.

"So… there's a clone of you?" Gogo questioned leaning on the wall next to Riku.

"It wasn't my decision," Riku said.

"You and Sora seem to have a lot of advanced stuff happening to you," Honey Lemon said.

"How much has Sora told you exactly?" Riku asked.

"Eh he calls his tech magic and a Keyblade, never really got a chance to study it up close though," Wasabi said, "He did give us some good ideas on how to utilize our weapons."

"He also told us about his classic battle between the forces of light and dark, and I couldn't help but notice you have some dark powers on your side," Fred said.

"Oh well… it's a long story," Riku said.

"No no wait don't tell me, you made a mistake long ago and used a power that was said to be evil, but later you realized that your evil power can be a power for good," Fred said.

"That's… surprisingly accurate," Riku said ashamed that he was amazed at Fred's conclusion.

"It's a classic epiphany that villain's have before turning to the side of good," Fred said.

"Wait were you and Sora enemies?" Honey Lemon asked.

"We're friends," Riku said, "But… yeah I made some mistakes and we ended up fighting each other. He… didn't give up on me and I went back to being his friend."

"Aww, that does sound like something Sora would do," Honey Lemon said.

"Did he share you his Keyblade technology?" Wasabi said.

"In a way," Riku said.

"You're so cryptic whenever we ask questions you still don't trust us?" Gogo asked.

"I'm just following someone's rules," Riku said.

* * *

"This is pretty advanced," Naminé said looking over the coding, "Did you actually write all this down."

"Well no, the whole majority of it is my brothers design," Hiro said, "All this seems more like A.I tech than heart whatever you guys might be thinking about. I don't know if this will help."

"Would you say that Baymax is just a computer?" Naminé asked Hiro.

"No way, Baymax is our best friend," Hiro said.

"Then that might all the proof I need that he has a heart," Naminé said.

"What are you really hoping to do with this anyway? With this memory thing?" Hiro asked.

"Well… I'm assuming you faced the Heartless with Sora?" Naminé asked.

"Yeah those things really kicked our butts, I don't think we would have won if Sora hadn't helped us," Hiro said.

"I may be able to help people with my powers," Naminé said.

"… So it's true, the missing people all turned to Heartless," Hiro said glumly.

"Oh… you knew?" Naminé questioned.

"No… I just figured it out, I didn't know it was true till you told me," Hiro said still saddened, "Have we been hurting people?"

"No," Naminé said, "Those people who turn into Heartless aren't themselves anymore, it's just their heart alone taken over by darkness."

"By that I assume you don't mean an organ designed to pump blood," Hiro said, "What is a Heart?"

"That's… something we don't have a full answer for," Naminé said.

"Right… so what does this have to do with you?" Hiro asked.

"My abilities, it's still just a working theory but I may be able to bring people back from being a heartless," Naminé said.

"Y-Really? You're sure of this!?" Hiro asked.

"It's just a theory like I said, but it's happened before to some of my friends including Sora. Becoming a Heartless and being able to turn back all with just the memory of his friends," Naminé said.

"Sora turned into a Heartless and then turned back?" Hiro questioned, "Well alright then I'm on board."

"W-Really?" Naminé questioned.

"Why wouldn't I be? This what hero's do," Hiro said, "Although… I don't know what we're looking for exactly," he said going over the coding.

"Maybe we should start with the part that lets him figure out how to respond to people," Naminé said.

"Naminé," Riku said getting her and Hiro's attention, "The hearts not going to be in the code."

"What but… oh that's right," Naminé remembered.

"But the codes kind of the only place where it could be," Hiro asked.

"No no right I keep forgetting how this works," Naminé said walking up to the two Baymax's who were giving vacant eyes, "So… who are these two exactly?"

"I am Baymax." "Your personal healthcare companion."

"Healthcare? The guy hits with the power of a tank, how's that healthy?" Riku asked.

"Well my brother Tadashi made him first as an aid for people who were disabled and sick and needed aid," Hiro said, "Long story short someone was attacking the city and I made a few adjustments, I taught him Karate and made the suits."

"He does seem a lot lighter than before," Riku said poking one in the stomach, "Is he just air?"

"He's mostly vinyl with a carbon fiber skeleton," Hiro said.

"Oh do the health scan thing," Fred said excited.

"Health scan?" Riku questioned. Both Baymax's shot a bar of light right at Riku moving it up his body from his feet to the top of his head.

"Your blood pressure is slightly rising, I see that you are stressed," Baymax said.

"I was attacked and my friend was injured," Riku answered, "And I'm… realizing that my other best friend has been talking about things next to what I now think are scientist."

"I'm more of an Engineer," Gogo said.

"And I am a school mascot," Fred said.

"I recommend you avoid stressful situations and perform recreational activity with friends and family," Baymax said.

"He seems… more robot than I thought something with a heart would act," Naminé said.

"Oh he may act like that but he's a lot more than he seems," Honey Lemon said.

"He's refused programming and orders before when he thought it would be for my benefit, definitely not something he was programmed to have," Hiro said.

"Really… that does remind me of another AI," Naminé said, "Would your brother know where this behavior comes from?"

"He… he's not with us," Hiro said sadly.

"Oh," Naminé paused in realization, "I'm… sorry."

"We've been over it a bunch of times it's fine," Hiro said, "We already took in the guy responsible so no worries."

"That was fun… despite nearly dying multiple times… oh man I'm freaking out never mind it wasn't that fun," Wasabi said.

"You said that Baymax decided to follow its own orders?" Riku asked, "Like when?"

"Well the biggest one that comes to mind is when I tried to get rid of Tadashi's healthcare chip," Hiro said, "I was… really mad about to turn Baymax into a mindless machine just to get back at the guy who caused my brothers death but he didn't let me get to his access port."

"So why did you refuse orders?" Riku asked the Baymax's.

"I was programed to aid the sick and injured, attacking or injuring a human goes against what Tadashi programed me to do and terminating Robert Callaghan would not aid in Hiro's emotional state," Baymax said.

"Huh… you really do have a heart," Riku said.

"So you remember what your creator wanted you to do?" Naminé asked.

"Yes, Tadashi wanted to aid others that is my primary function," Baymax said.

"… … … … I think I get it," Naminé said.

"You… know how to simulate a heart?" Riku asked.

"No… I don't understand it, but I get it," Naminé said.

"… I'm confused," Riku said.

"Are you saying you know what to do?" Hiro asked, "You think you can figure out how to help all those people?"

"Not yet but, it's definitely a start though," Naminé said, "I can feel it."

"Great this great this is so amazing you're going to help a lot of people," Hiro said, "So… what exactly did you figure out?"

"Our simulation isn't going to help if that's all it is to us," Naminé said, "I… might have some ideas on how to get around that."

"So… what?" Hiro questioned.

"I'll tell you about it if this works," Naminé said, "Thank you for everything Hiro, Baymax. I'm sorry but I need to go now," she said already taking off.

"Uh okay see- you," Hiro tried to wave but Naminé had already headed out the door.

"I gotta follow her, I'm her rider," Riku said about to race off, "Thanks… all of you," he said leaving after Naminé.

"Uh… did we do something to help?" Gogo questioned.

* * *

Naminé seemed to hop in her seat as she started messing with a few programs on her tablet as Riku flew the two of them back to their home.

"So… you got an idea on what to do?" Riku asked Naminé.

"Everything we've done has been simulated including the memories but… it was never going to be a real heart with fake memories, and even when we got close the heart would fall into despair and summon Heartless," Naminé said.

"So what's going to be different this time?" Riku asked.

"I'm going to need a camera," Naminé said.

* _Beep beep_ * Riku felt his phone ring. Looking at it he saw that he got a message through Kingdom Hearts.

"Oh hey look, Kairi sent us the post you made _,"_ Riku said looking at the photo and message.

**Kairi: When were you going to tell me you were dating Namin-** "What?" Riku was confused at the message.

"EEP!" Naminé let out a frightened noise. Riku thought something was wrong since Naminé's face made her look as though she was getting another fever.

"What's-?" "NOTHING!" Naminé said loudly. Riku saw that she kept her hand over her phone, he got enough of a glimpse to see that it was the post Naminé had made that had been liked by all their friends. He just took a look at the one on his phone to see the photo and what she posted.

**Naminé: Going to a new world with Riku at last. #worldtravel #roadtrip #firstdate**

"First date?" Riku questioned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Okay this was a bit harder to end but here we are finally done. Without a doubt this chapter is the longest one I've ever made in all of my fan fictions. Be sure to review or comment and I'll get to work on Roxas and Xion next. And for those wondering still gonna take some time till we get to the E/M rated stuff.


	11. Misinterpretation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Okay so I think it's time I start giving people the things that the want now really start easing into it. I don't know why my AO3 didn't like the last chapter so I'll try and shake things up a bit.

Roxas stared listlessly at the ceiling on the couch of he and his friends apartment. The memory of what Xion seemed to confirm a few days ago was lingering on his thoughts. He and Lea knew that Xion despite her looks was pretty much a baby in the world unaware of certain things so there was the thought that she didn't fully know what she was talking about. Yet on the other hand she had a perfect memory and there was know doubt in his mind she could memorize an entire dictionary including the term boyfriend.

" _Phew_ I'm home," Lea called out. Entering their home Lea was dressed in workout clothes sweating from intense exercises, "I don't think Riku remembers how massive those logs in the forest are or how heavy, I think he's just still mad at me."

"… …"

"So… Xion still working and I'm done with my exercises, what's the gang up to?" Lea asked.

"… I don't know," Roxas said quietly.

"You doing okay? You haven't moved from your spot since I left I thought you were still asleep," Lea said.

"I… it's nothing," Roxas said.

"Come on," Lea tried to tempt him with light teasing, "What's the problem?"

"… Are me and Xion dating?" Roxas asked.

"… sorry must have had something… relationship… problem annoying- forget the joke I heard what you," Lea said, "Why are you asking me this, and please don't make this too weird."

"She… there was a conversation between the ducks who sell Gummi Ship parts and Xion may have said I'm her boyfriend when the green one teased me and her about it," Roxas said.

"Oh," Lea felt a bit stunned, "Alright so… does she know what that word means specifically?"

"I don't know!" Roxas exclaimed tossing his hands up still laying on the couch "She'd only needs to see that word once to remember it and considering where she works there's a good chance she'd know what that means! And if she does then that means I've been a bad boyfriend we never doing anything with just the two of us it's always with friends or you!"

"What?" Lea questioned

"But if she doesn't know what that word means then I'm freaking out about nothing but she said it with such confidence that it makes me think she does know and doesn't realize it. What if this is all just because Sora and Kairi are together for real now and Sora's memories are still connected to Xion and she thinks we're together and it's all a lie!? What if Sora is making me think we should be together just because I came from him and he's with Kairi and all this time I've had no real free will to decide if me and Xion should be together!?" Roxas panicked.

"Okay okay just stop, none of this sounds like something that should be science or whatever this is," Lea told Roxas when he saw him panicking, " _sigh_ I really hope Terra wasn't right. Have you actually asked her about any of this?"

"No! Are you insane!?" Roxas questioned.

"Wh- Are you!? Because you seem to be freaking out at the idea of you and Xion out of nothing," Lea said.

"Wouldn't you be freaking out if Xion wanted to try dating you?" Roxas questioned.

"I mean… I never really considered it, Xion's nice and all but maybe too short for me. Plus I feel like that would make things weird considering I have to take care of the two of you half the time. I honestly feel like I'm the dad of the group," Lea said.

"You don't need to take care of us," Roxas said annoyed.

"Did you put away the dishes yesterday like you said you would?" Lea asked.

"… shut up," Roxas glared.

"As much fun as I think it would be to watch you and Xion have some weird sitcom level humor maybe you really should talk about this before assuming anything and doing something crazy our whole Keyblade group seems to do at certain times," Lea said.

"How am I even supposed to do that?" Roxas questioned.

"Talking to Xion? Try using your mouth," Lea said.

"I-I can't," Roxas said nervous, "What if I'm just worrying about nothing and it turns out she didn't know what she meant and I make things awkward between us forever?"

"Which you won't know unless you talk to her," Lea said.

"Well it's a delicate situation for me. What if I said I liked you would things be normal after that?" Roxas asked.

"That… okay fair point I'd feel weird about that for a long time," Lea said, "But I'm not Xion… o-or a girl for that matter so I'd feel strange for completely different unrelated reasons."

"Yeah I… feel weird thinking that now," Roxas said.

* * *

Xion's shift at the Bistro was half over and she decided to take this time to go on her break and call Naminé behind the restaurant. After reading her post on Kingdom Hearts she felt incredibly giddy and happy that another one of her friends was able to find someone for themselves. Though Naminé felt very reluctant to talk about it.

" _I-I didn't it's not like that_ ," Naminé flustered on screen. Xion could easily tell that she was blushing at the idea.

"What? Why? I thought it was nice. Sora and Kairi have each other and now Riku won't be alone anymore. I was always worried about that with the three of them," Xion said.

" _But we're not together_ ," Naminé said.

"But you said it was a first date," Xion said.

" _I was distracted by the excitement! It was my first time traveling on my own… w-with Riku… s-second time- I had a purpose and a mission it felt like I was about to do something that would help me change everything and I was doing it with Riku we have so much fun together all the time I wasn't thinking,_ " Naminé's phone image kept jumbling around in her nervousness as she tried to explain.

"So why did you say you were on a date?" Xion questioned.

" _I wanted to say first adventure but I saw the two of us and I just word associated us with date I was too happy to notice and then everyone started liking it saying 'congrats on getting together'- nnngh that's so weird for me to say_ ," Naminé cringed at her words.

"Why? I thought relationships were a good thing," Xion questioned.

" _Me and Riku had this… comfortable… mutual friendship it was fine but now that people think we're a couple its made things weird for us. I can't look at him without thinking about t-things_ , _we can't even talk to each other I'm too afraid to go out anymore. I desperately miss Ice Cream but the only place to get it is by passing by where Riku usually is and I'm too- DO NOT LEAVE! DO NOT STEAL!_ " Naminé shouted out to a Dusk Xion could see in the background.

"You seem stressed," Xion pointed out.

" _Yes I'm stressed, I messed things up and now I'm all alone again with nobody… oh I didn't mean you guys,"_ a Dusk nuzzled it's head under Naminé's chin like a sad puppy. Naminé gave the Dusk a small pat on the head.

"That's still weird to me, they were never this affectionate back at my castle," Xion said.

" _Yeah I thought Even was just telling them to be nice to me but Even doesn't know why they're like this,"_ Naminé said.

"So if you're not going to see Riku or leave the castle then what are you going to do?" Xion asked.

" _I've gotten an idea on how to get around the problems our project has been making, and with time I should be able to get a far better grip on my powers. I'm just waiting for a few parts I ordered so I'll be assisting Even and Ienzo with their own experiments_ ," Naminé said.

"And you're just going to leave Riku on his own?" Xion asked worried.

" _I just… I have all these projects and experiments I need to work on I don't have time right now for things like having a relationship or… a boyfriend_ ," Naminé said.

"Uh wait isn't Riku your boyfriend already?" Xion asked.

" _NO! Nonononono no we're not like that_ ," Naminé defended.

"But you said you two are friends," Xion said.

" _What? No no boyfriend doesn't- what do you think that means_?" Naminé asked.

"A friend that's a boy?" Xion said.

" _No boyfriend is usually someone you have a romantic interest in… l-like Sora to Kairi_ ," Naminé explained.

"… oh," Xion said, Naminé could tell that something was distracting Xion.

" _uh… did you say someone else was your boyfriend? Like Roxas or Axel?"_ Naminé questioned.

"NO! Nononononono," Xion repeated with the same look Naminé had a moment ago.

"… _who was it_?" Naminé asked.

"I have to go!" Xion answered.

" _Wait wa-_!" * _beep_ * Naminé did her best to call out to Xion but she had already pressed the end button. Xion sighed at the memories she recalled when Louie at the Gummi shop.

"Oh man did I mess things up?" Xion asked herself. Roxas seemed to want to ask her something at the start of the incident but her excitement at buying her own ship was distracting, after that Roxas didn't seem to want to talk to her.

"Xion?" a voice called out, the back door of the Bistro opened and Scrooge McDuck walked out, "Xion, there you are? What are you doing out here? You're back on the shift and you're out here? You're usually so punctual."

"Oh sorry! T-There was an… something happened," Xion spoke quickly gathering herself and rushing herself.

"Oh boy great… teen drama, what happened?" Scrooge asked her.

"Oh… um well-."

"Actually," Scrooge interrupted her, "And I mean this in the most respectable way; you're wasting my money right now soooooo…"

"Oh… o-of course," Xion said rushing back in the Bistro.

" _Ugh_ , this is why I never had kids," Scrooge said annoyed, "… well that and the only woman I ever loved left me frozen in a block of ice for a century… _agh_ bagpipes I miss her."

* * *

After a few more hours Xion was finished for the day cleaning up the rest of her tables. After some more customers gave her overly friendly goodbyes she was finally free for the day.

"Uh Xion?" Scrooge called out to her before.

"Yes?" Xion asked.

"Sooooooo… really bad at this for the record, what's going on?" Scrooge asked.

"Oh uh… I was… there was a bit of an incident and I don't know if this is true but me and Roxas are possibly drifting from each other," Xion said.

"Ven's brother? What happened?" Scrooge asked.

"Well… Louie said that Roxas was my boyfriend and I agreed, and I just recently learned what that word really means. Roxas and I haven't been talking to each other for a while and I think I know why now," Xion said.

"Okay okay I already know where this is going to go," Scrooge said, "Just talk to him, please."

"Alright," Xion answered.

"And by talk I mean talk to him face to face," Scrooge clarified, "Don't stand outside his window with a boom box- no wait that's what the guys do. Don't… what do girls do when they're heart broken?"

"Die," Xion stated, "Wait by heart do you mean the one that pumps blood or-?"

"No not- just don't turn this into something strange that will distract you for a long time I know how you kids like to make things that could end simple into something complicated," Scrooge instructed, "You should see the other stuff the rest of yer workmates get into that end up in them crying or quitting for the dumbest reasons."

"Understood," Xion answered, "This time I will make sure that I speak clearly with full knowledge on how to speak to guys."

"I feel like there's some context the two of us aren't getting and somethings going to happen but hopefully that's not the case," Scrooge said.

* * *

Within the Twilight Town Library Xion began studying everything she could about social interactions between boys and girls. For the past hours Xion had been able to get through over half a dozen books involving behavior, conversation, and men. From what she could deduce Roxas felt uncomfortable to speak to her due to a fear of change, but Xion was sure she had found a solution to get the two of them back to a normal relationship.

* * *

Lea opened to door to their apartment to see a trail of flower petals adorned with a path of candles leading to the couch where Xion was. Dressed in her casual clothes of her button vest and skirt she was laying on her side elbow bent and propping her head up looking like she was trying to be seductive.

"Hey Axel," Xion answered as though nothing was wrong, "This is for Roxas sorry, but if you want we can do this to later."

* * *

* _SLAM*_

Lea closed the door in front of him outside of his home where Xion was doing whatever she thought she was doing.

"This doesn't have to concern me," Lea said to himself feeling a mountain up stress slowly pile onto him,"I can walk away call up Isa and we can give drinking a try I think something like this warrants it."

Lea turned around and began his trek to be far away from whatever Xion was doing.

"They can handle whatever problems they have on their own they're grown adults… with the minds of inexperienced naïve children and Sora… …damn it Terra!"

* * *

"I-Is everything okay?" Xion asked when Lea entered back in their home. She was still in the same position on the couch as before.

"Okay just… give me a minute," Lea said pinching the bridge between his eyes, "What is all this?"

"Oh Roxas hasn't been comfortable around me after an incident with the Gummi shop lately so I looked up ways to attempt to get him more comfortable around me," Xion explained.

"How would thi- first sit up-OH FOR-!" Lea averted his eyes, "Are you not wearing any underwear!?"

"I read tha-."

"NO NO NO no explaining just go and dress normally and put clothes on!" Lea ordered.

"Just my-?"

"ALL THE CLOTHES!" Lea yelled, "I am not having this talk while you're like this!"

* * *

After Xion put on everything she was supposed to a red faced Lea sat her down at the table in their kitchen.

"First of all what's going on between you and Roxas!?" Leas said still stressed.

"Well… ever since Louie called Roxas my boyfriend he's been keeping a noticeable distance from me. At first for a while I thought I did something wrong but after talking to Naminé I learned the full meaning of boyfriend," Xion said.

"So you really didn't know the meaning of that word?" Lea clarified.

"No, I assumed it was another meaning for a friend based on gender but I now know it means something more intimate," Xion said.

"Yup," Lea said, "So… why were you doing all of… this?" he gestured to the couch and candles.

"Mr Scrooge said I should talk to Roxas about this and fix things between us, but my lack of knowledge on terms was what made the problem so I decided to look up everything I could about male and female interactions at the library before talking to Roxas," Xion said.

"You looked- what books did you read?" Lea sounded worried.

"Relationships and You Make a Lasting Relationship Make your Man Happy-."

"Oh for-! Why does our library have those books!? I thought the possibly intimate part was what made things weird for the two of you!?" Lea said.

"Oh it was but then I read that physical intimacy doesn't need to require emotional intimacy-."

"STOP just… Xion I don't think you understand what you were trying to do with Roxas!" Lea said.

"I was hoping that I could cheer Roxas up if the two of us engaged in se-!"

"OKAY! Obviously you knew exactly what was going on but I don't think you have enough information to know exactly what was going on," Lea felt as though he was going to faint from the stress.

"I bought condoms if that's what you're worried about-."

" _AAAAUGh_!" Lea tried to hold in his yell.

"I didn't… I haven't hurt you to have I?" Xion asked.

"Look just… this thing- We're calling what you wanted to do for Roxas 'thing' you know what I'm talking about got it memorized?" Lea instructed her, "You, a girl, were perfectly fine with doing this thing for him? That's what you're telling me?"

"Roxas is my friend, and I'm willing to do anything to make my friends happy," Xion said.

"First of all NEVER say that to anyone else," Lea told her, "Second you don't think this would have made things worse?"

"… don't men enjoy… 'thing'?" Xion questioned.

"This is… look I kind of get where you were going but… this isn't something you should be doing with Roxas especially with the kind of embarrassment he's been worried about," Lea said.

"What do you mean?" Xion asked.

"Just… you two… you know what this is as far as I can take it," Lea said.

* * *

* _knock knock_ * The door to Olette's room opened up. Olette was at her rooms desk doing homework.

"What the- Lea? I didn't say you could come in!" Olette nearly yelled.

* _SHOVE_ * "Wha- HEY!" Olette yelled angrily when Lea shoved her work off her desk.

"Oh good you're not busy," Lea stated as though nothing happened, "Listen Xion and Roxas are going through a tough time together and Xion somehow came to the conclusion that having sex with each other would fix things so talk to her about how to be a girl."

"Wait what-?"

"See ya!" Lea hurried out the room and shoved Xion in closing the door behind him.

"Wait what's going on!? LEA!" Olette yelled.

"… uh… should I go?" Xion asked.

"What is going on!?" Olette exclaimed.

* * *

" _uuuuugh_!" Lea groaned in annoyance as he let his head fall face first into the table of the Bistro.

"So… I suppose the two of us always wanted to do this but I feel as though there's another reason for this," Isa said sitting across from Lea.

"I'm raising kids," Lea stated as though he was given fatal news, "I'm raising two kids who aren't related to each other and if things keep messing up they may start… I don't want to think about it."

"What kids?" Isa asked.

"Roxas and Xion!" Lea cried, "Roxas has the intelligence of Sora and Xion is two years old. I can't leave them alone for long periods of time!"

"She is- actually that's true," Isa realized, "I thought the three of you were friends? Are you saying there's something wrong now?" he asked.

"Xion called Roxas her boyfriend without understanding the meaning and the idea of those two together is making Roxas too afraid to speak to Xion and Xion just found out why Roxas didn't want to talk to her and thought the best way to fix everything was to seduce him," Lea said.

"I'm… sorry what?" Isa was confused at his situation.

"I can't leave the two of them alone together or they'll do something stupid to try and stay together," Lea said annoyed, "God I've become the dad of the group, this isn't how I wanted to be a father."

"You… wanted to be a father? Lea I'm shocked," Isa said.

"I mean I always assumed I'd make some terrible mistake and become a father out of guilt," Lea said.

"That's how you planned it?" Isa asked.

"Didn't you?" Lea questioned.

"… I suppose I didn't have that much faith in my future either," Isa said, "Though I know I would have been better prepared."

"Oh boy," Scrooge approached the two friends with a look of disappointment on his face.

"Um… hello?" Isa questioned.

"Hello terrifying scar man," Scrooge said taking a seat, "I know that look, what happened?" he asked Lea.

"What did you tell Xion to do?" Lea asked him.

"I told the laddie to talk face to face with the lad and not to do something stupid. I assumed she was smart enough not to do something stupid," Scrooge said.

"She… may have taken it too far," Lea said.

"Do I want to know?" Scrooge asked.

"I definitely don't want to go around telling people," Lea said.

" _Eugh_ , this is why I never wanted kids," Scrooge said.

"I just need things to get back to normal," Lea said.

"Yeah I would prefer Xion be normal before she comes back to work," Scrooge said, "Not in a noble sense but more of a business sense… and I also care about that girl."

"Have you tried getting them to just talk to each other?" Isa asked.

" _UUUgh_." "They're idiots." Lea and Scrooge complained.

"You guys got anything to drink?" Lea asked.

"Here, figured this might be the case," Scrooge pulled up a bottle saying 'RainDuck' and placed three glasses on the table seemingly out of nowhere, "Wait… you're old enough to drink right?"

"It says we are on the fake ID's when we immigrated here, him and me," Lea pointed to Isa.

"Good enough for me," Scrooge poured the wine into three glasses. Isa and Lea reached for their glasses.

" _Eh eh eh_ fifteen a glass," Scrooge stopped the two.

"Oh for, fine, cheap duck," Lea said. He and Isa dropped some munny on the table.

"Welp… we always said we were gonna have our first drink together," Lea said.

"Yes, though this is not how I envisioned it happening," Isa said looking at the Duck.

" _Eh_ ya take what life can give ya," Scrooge said, "Cheers."

"Yeah cheers." "Cheers." Lea and Isa clinked their drinks together with Scrooge before taking a small sip.

"Okay…. Wine is terrible," Lea concluded.

"Yes I feel a bit disappointed that that was it not a… refreshing taste," Isa said.

" _Bah_ you need to acquire an adults taste just keep drinking you'll like it eventually," Scrooge said, "So… what are you gonna do about the two laddies? Does someone need to give em the talk?"

"I'm certain that Xion absolutely doesn't need the talk, but I'm hoping Olette will tell her how to be a girl," Lea said, " _sigh_ this is not what I thought our life was going to be like when we got back together. I wanted us to do things with each other like the good old days."

"Well why don't you? From what I see there's nothing stopping the three of you from doing what you want now that… what happened to the three of you anyway?" Scrooge questioned.

"War," Isa said, "All of us were working for the wrong side, we ended up fighting each other, trying to kill those we once considered friends."

"Well you're pleasant," Scrooge sarcastically said, "Not to sound like I'm dismissive of PTSD but what were things like before 'war'?"

"Honestly we did missions together and ate ice cream, it was mostly work we didn't get a lot of days off thanks to someone," Lea glared at Isa.

"We all had a job to do," Isa said, "And should we really be talking about this in front of him?" he pointed to Scrooge.

"Xion spilled the beans already, she thought it was good experience to mention on a resume," Scrooge said, "But I don't judge criminal organization'ers, I've been in revolutions and committed a few crimes me'self. Mostly tax fraud at the start but now I'm rich enough to get away with it."

"Well perhaps you should go on a mission then? Try and relive the so called good old days get everyone acting normal with each other. Isn't there trouble out there somewhere a Keyblade Warrior should help?" Isa asked.

"I wish, still in training and what's worse me and Roxas have different trainers, and Xion doesn't want to use her copied Keyblade she's waiting till she magics her own. So the three of us are constantly split apart from each other," Lea said, "I wish the three of us could do something to get us back on track I feel like we're not as together as we should be after all we've been through."

"… wait a minute wait I got an idea!" Scrooge said.

"I'm not paying you for it," Lea said.

"Ehhh fine," Scrooge agreed, "The two of you might not be able to go on missions on your own but as a world traveler I can intern the two of you in the guardianship lesson."

"The what?" Lea questioned.

* * *

" _I'm sorry what?_ " Aqua questioned.

" _Yeah what are you talking about_ ," Riku asked.

Scrooge McDuck had gotten the information down on both current Keyblade masters training both Roxas and Axel. When Scrooge got ahold of both of them on the Gummie Phone he requested both Riku and Aqua a favor.

"Guardianship Lessons," Scrooge McDuck said to the two, "I've been thinking about taking a trip to other worlds to try and find a new business venture with one of my employees Xion and maybe one other-."

"Pass," Isa said.

"Suit yerself," Scrooge said, "Anyway it's going to possibly have some moderate danger and I wanted to borrow two of yer Key-wielding fighters for protection, and since you got some in training Key Wielders I thought I'd inact the Guardianship Lesson request."

" _I'm sorry I'm a bit lost what are you talking about? We can't give our students away to help people if they're not ready_ ," Riku said.

" _Actually we can_ ," Aqua said surprised, " _A long time ago one lesson used to give young Keyblade Wielders outside experience was the Guardianship Lesson. Usually to help people who wanted defense from possible bandits or low level heartless and train Keyblade wielders as protectors but nobody's done that in a long time. Mostly due to the fact that Keyblades knowledge and users have become scarce_."

" _Wait how do you know? Did Sora blab again!_?" Riku asked.

"No the lad hasn't said anything I just know, and honestly I'm doing this as a favor for a friend… and I actually am planning on making new money and want to check in some places for possible ideas," Scrooge said.

" _You just know_?" Aqua questioned, " _Would you care to elaborate on that_?"

"No I would not," Scrooge said.

"… _And you're friends with Sora?_ " Aqua asked.

"Yes I am, ask the lad if you want," Scrooge said.

" _What exactly is your gain here?"_ Riku asked.

"I really am trying to just help a couple of friends, but ever the profiter I am also seeing this as a chance to expand my business," Scrooge said.

" _Well… I'll talk to Sora to verify you but if he says you can be trusted I suppose I can let Roxas travel, it might be nice to let him spend some time with his friends_ ," Aqua said.

" _I guess I can take some time off till Terra gets back then, I'll talk to Sora to_ ," Riku said.

"Excellent I'll send you the necessary info and set a time, pleasure doing business with you," Scrooge said hanging up.

"So… what's going on?" Lea questioned.

"I just hired- well more like interned you for free, you and yer friend Roxas to make sure nothing happens to me and Xion when the two of us go out world traveling," Scrooge said.

"In the Guardianship Lessons? What is that?" Lea asked.

"Keyblade Masters are allowed to lend their students in mildly dangerous situations to help others even if they're not ready for the responsibility to go on long missions on their own," Scrooge said.

"Really?... wait not ready? I've been to other worlds on my own and world traveled before," Lea said.

"You were sent to destroy all those times," Isa said.

"Not all the time… although I guess I did some lasting harm wherever I went, anyway go on," Lea looked to Scrooge.

"You and your friend Roxas are hired (for free) to make sure nothing happens to me and my employee Xion, and maybe on the way we get Roxas and Xion to talk normal to each other make them both clear headed and focus on their work," Scrooge said.

"This… sounds great," Lea slowly gained excitement, "This actually does sound like something we need, its what I've always wanted for us. To go traveling to worlds after getting back together at last."

"With a duck?" Isa asked.

"Okay not everything the way I wanted but hey take what life can give you," Lea said.

"Now you're getting it," Scrooge said.

"I'm gonna go tell Xion and Roxas," Lea got up and rushed out the door leaving the other two.

"… so… you know about information to the Keyblade wielders that's possibly thousands of years old?" Isa asked.

"Yes that's right," Scrooge answered.

"How… old are you?" Isa questioned.

* * *

Lea barged right into Olette's room, "Hey Xion, we're- oh for," Lea came in to see a worried Xion being comforted by Olette.

"You know you could knock-! How are you just getting into my house?" Olette questioned.

"What happened? Xion is everything okay?" Lea asked.

Xion still seemed worried as though something bad was going to arrive"… have I been acting like a slut?" she asked.

"Wha- NO! No that's not- WHY does she know that word now!?" Lea questioned worried and angry.

"I needed some kind of reference I wasn't calling her anything- I wasn't exactly prepared to give a talk!" Olette yelled back at Lea.

"Oh for… come on," Lea took Xion by the hand, "We're fixing this don't worry."

* * *

"Hey Roxas- OH COME ON!"

Lea went to the usual spot to meet up with Roxas who was with Hayner and Pence only to see that Roxas was in just as worried of a state that Xion was in.

"What did you two do!?" Lea asked.

"What nothing!" Hayner argued, "I mean Roxas was worried about how he was treating Xion and I guess we told him he was ignoring her-."

"You know what forget it I'm taking Roxas we're fixing things before they get worse or weird," Lea said taking Roxas by the hand as well and dragging him away.

"Did I ruin things with Xion?" Roxas asked.

"No it's fine don't worry," Lea said.

"We still doing game night?" Pence called as Lea walked away.

"Yeah I got chips we're good," Lea called back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Okay a bunch of work crap got in the way and my laptop is a piece of shit so a bunch of stuff got my attention. Anyway I'm not too sure how I did with this chapter so be sure to tell me what you think about it.


	12. Night on the Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Next chapter is coming and it's a wayfinder chapter. This time I have an idea of where to go but I had to watch a bunch of old shows for this one.
> 
> Fun game for this chapter, try and name where everyone comes from.

Tracking down Master Yen Sids tower was mildly annoying for Terra and Aqua nothing that took too long but constantly tracking down his moving home took time. After locating it Terra put on his armor and got on his speeder, Aqua sat behind him gripping tightly as he began their flight through space. The sight of the tower was in view and Terra gently set down.

"Have you been able to find your old Keyblade?" Terra asked her.

"It's still in the works," Aqua said a bit hasty.

"Are you sure?" Terra asked.

"I'll be able to locate it in time you don't need to worry," Aqua explained again.

"Alright… if you say so," Terra relented.

The two of them approached the doors and gave the large ring handle a knock, the sound of banging wood echoed through the tower. The two of them expected the door to open up automatically by magic but it was opened manually by someone.

" _Hm_ Aqua Terra! What a wonderful surprise," King Mickey said.

"Oh your majesty," Aqua spoke surprised, "What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

"Oh yeah everything's just dandy," Mickey said, "Just helping Master Yen Sid out with a few things, ever since he helped us out at the final battle he's been feeling a bit more tired than normal."

"Is he alright?" Terra asked.

"Nothing wrong, he used some really powerful magic so it's understandable he'd need a bit of help till he gets all his old strength back," Mickey said, "Between you and me I think that his age is finally catching up to him," he leaned in a bit and whispered the last bit.

* _KRACKOOM*_ A bolt of lightning went off in the distance.

"He's still fit as a fiddle that's what I always say," Mickey quickly added with noticeable fear, "So what brings you here?"

"Well… we have a bit of a concern," Aqua said.

"What kind?" Mickey asked.

"Well… It's just… I may have been feeling a bit unwell," Aqua said.

"Aqua," Terra called out, "Keeping secrets isn't something you want to do right now, I know that as much as anyone."

" _Sigh_ I think I might be losing myself to the Darkness," Aqua admitted.

"W-What?" Mickey jumped at the statement grasping Aqua's hand and examining it, "Are ya sure?"

"Well Ventus's friend thinks I am and I… saw a bit of it myself," Aqua said.

"Well what's wrong?" Mickey asked worried.

"That's what we're here for," Aqua said, "I was hoping to speak to Master Yen Sid about this."

"Well of course, come on in," King Mickey said.

* * *

At the top of the Tower sat Master Yen Sid. Despite the things Mickey had said Yen Sid still looked as fit and imposing as ever. Mickey opened the door and allowed Aqua and Terra to enter.

"Master Aqua, Terra," Yen Sid spoke, "It is good to see you again, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Hello Master Yen Sid," Aqua spoke, "I was hoping to talk to you about something," she spoke nervously.

"I had a feeling," Yen Sid said, "Mickey, Terra, would you allow us the room?"

"Oh well, sure," Terra said, "I'll just wait till you're done," he said to Aqua.

"We'll be right outside," Mickey said.

* * *

Terra and Micky took the long steps down out of the tower. Despite his reluctance Terra decided to give Aqua the space he thought she needed.

"So how's things going back home?" Mickey asked.

"We're doing well, Aqua has taken up the job as Master very seriously," Terra said.

"She's teaching Roxas and Ventus?" Mickey asked.

"Yes, while Lea and I are learning from Riku. Though I've been having a bit of trouble," Terra said.

"I heard, any idea what's holding your control back?" Mickey asked him.

"Actually Sora seems to think that I can't use the darkness properly just because Aqua doesn't like it," Terra said.

"What? Why would- oh right. I guess after all she's been through I suppose she wouldn't like anything about the darkness," Mickey said.

"She said she didn't want me to learn it either, she didn't stop me but she made sure to tell me that she didn't approve of it," Terra said, "Honestly ever since Sora brought it up I've been wondering if I'm doing the right thing by changing my style of training. And if it wasn't just Aqua being trapped in the Realm of Darkness she also seems dead set on our old Master Eraqus view of Darkness."

"We all have to follow our own path. Even I used to think that the Darkness was nothing but evil but Sora and Riku have shown me that it's not true," Mickey said, "You think Master Yen Sid will be able to help Aqua?"

"I hope so," Terra said.

* * *

"Now then," Yen Sid began, he sat at his usual desk while Aqua sat on one of the chairs he conjured up, "I believe that you have an issue you wish to speak about."

"Do you… already know what it is?" Aqua asked.

"I do, but I want you to say it," Yen Sid said.

"… the darkness in me, I think it's spreading," Aqua said.

"I see," Yen Sid spoke, "Tell me when do you think this began?"

"I'm not sure," Aqua said, "Chirithy only recently told me that I was in danger of losing myself to darkness but just yesterday I actually saw it for myself… when me and Terra were arguing."

"I would have thought you two could no longer stand to be apart from each other, what did you argue about?" Yen Sid asked her.

"Well… it was about Terra's training," Aqua said, "He wanted to know what I thought about it because he thought I was having an effect on him so I just told him that I don't like it."

"Is that all?" Yen Sid questioned.

Aqua paused but continued, "I may have said that I felt like he didn't care about us or what Master Eraqus taught us about the darkness."

"I see, but surely you don't believe that Terra would train to use his darkness just to hurt you?" Yen Sid asked.

"No, no of course not," Aqua said depressed, "But I still don't like what he's doing and I know he would never try to insult our Master's memory but it feels wrong to me that he would go against everything Master Eraqus taught us."

"Master Eraqus was a wise man yes, but looking back even I felt that he had more hatred for the Darkness than anyone else," Yen Sid spoke.

"Do you… also think he was wrong?" Aqua asked worried.

"Aqua, what many people tend to forget is that being a master means that you have learned all there currently is, but it does not mean you are done learning," Yen Sid told her, "I too once felt the same way about the Darkness believing it to be nothing but evil. Yet after all we have been through I now know that darkness even light are not good or evil, it is the people who use it that decide that."

"I… suppose that makes sense," Aqua seemed a bit reluctant to admit it.

"Would you truly think less of Master Eraqus for being wrong?" Yen Sid asked her.

"No, I wouldn't," Aqua said.

"Understandably your dislike for the darkness is not without reason, but you should not allow your fears alone to be the base for any of your choices," Yen Sid spoke.

"Right, of course," Aqua said.

"Have there been any other incidents happening? Anything that would cause you pain?" Yen Sid asked her.

"Well… there have been kind of I guess stressful times whenever I'm alone," Aqua said.

"Oh? Do you mean to be apart from each other?" Yen Sid said.

"Well there are times in the evening when both Terra and Ventus need to give Lea and Roxas a ride back home since me and Riku are training different students," Aqua said.

"I see, so for a time in the day you are left alone at the castle. Can you not travel as well?" Yen Sid asked her.

"… my Keyblade still hasn't come back to me," Aqua felt ashamed to admit.

"Ah, so you truly are stuck without anyone to help you," Yen Sid said, "and what are you feeling when you're alone."

"Honestly, there's a part of me that worries that they might not come back, I feel as though I'm being reminded that I'm alone by myself and that Terra and Ventus won't need me anymore. I know that's not something I should worry about I can't just expect them to stay with me forever. Ventus is already showing signs of being a master and he might want to travel and Terra is getting by just fine without me-."

"Enough!" Yen Sid suddenly shouted.

"Wha- why-?!" Aqua was about to ask but she felt a familiar tingling sensation on her hand. Sure enough she saw a familiar dark hazing mist spewing out of her for a mere moment.

Yen Sid stroked his beard in concern, "I believe you should take some time off from your responsibilities."

"What? How will that help?" Aqua questioned.

"You have faced loneliness far longer than anyone should, and you have been through many trials nearly losing your only family in the process. It should be no surprise that you've had a few side effects both physically and mentally. Perhaps going back into work right after all that has happened was not the healthiest choice," Yen Sid said.

"So I should just stop?" Aqua was concerned.

"Yes, for a time until your heart feels more at ease and you fully understand what it is you desire for yourself," Yen Sid said.

"But I have too many things to take care of, I still need to look over Ventus and Roxas's training. Someone has to look over the castle," Aqua listed.

"There are plenty of ways for the young students to develop without your aid, and if the Heartless haven't persisted in your home after all this time then there's a good chance it will be safe to leave alone. Even then your home has plenty of defenses," Yen Sid said.

"But… what would I do?" Aqua questioned.

"That is something only you can decide," Yen Sid told her.

"Isn't there a way you can just take a Darkness out of me?" Aqua questioned.

"No such convenience exists," Yen Sid said, "You forget that Darkness exist in everyone's heart, the only exceptions throughout all worlds are the Princesses of Heart and sad to say you have very little chance of becoming one."

"So… I'm just supposed to suppress this Darkness in me forever?" Aqua asked.

"You must not call on it," Yen Sid instructed her, "The Darkness seems to be reacting to your stress and fears, and you are more prone to those feelings more than ever."

Aqua didn't want to admit it but she knew Yen Sid was right, ever since she arrived home she had no desire to be alone in any way. Terra deciding to train with Riku instead of her was a blow to her self esteem which was already torn up after everything she wasn't able to prevent and had to endure.

"Aqua, go and enjoy yourself. You've done more than enough to earn some time off," Yen Sid said.

* * *

After some more time the door to the room Terra and Mickey were waiting in finally opened. Terra was the first to notice and see Aqua step in feeling a wave a relief seeing that she was still fine.

"So, what's wrong? Is everything okay?" Terra asked her.

"Well, a bit of darkness seeped out again," Aqua admitted ashamed.

"Oh no." "Uh oh." King Mickey and Terra looked worried.

"He… thinks it might be because work is stressing me out and… well other reasons," Aqua said.

"That's no surprise, I thought we should do more together but you wanted to get right back into focusing on our responsibilities," Terra said.

"So… what will you do then?" Mickey asked her.

"I… don't know," Aqua said, "It's been so long since I ever did anything for fun other than just sitting outside."

"Yeah I can't remember the last time the three of us went out to do something fun," Terra said, "So what do you want to do?"

"I just… I don't know," Aqua said.

"Oh I got it! You folks should come over to my place!" Mickey said with joy.

"You mean your castle? Well it would be interesting to see another castle," Terra said.

"No not that," King Mickey said, "Ever since me and all my pals got back we've been working at all our old places and we just so happen to own a fun night club in downtown Disney Town."

"Really?… I've never been to a nightclub before," Aqua said.

"Me neither… we've always been busy whenever we traveled," Terra said, "How are you able to run a night club if you're running a Kingdom?"

"Well sometimes we need a little extra money to take care of some public projects and pay for the other government run stuff like the police and firefighters," Mickey said.

"Doesn't a kingdom collet taxes for that?" Aqua asked confused.

"We don't believe in taxes… we don't know how they work," Mickey said, "So what do you say? Come take in a show relax and mingle with the people, I know there's a few who would be glad to see that you're okay."

"Well, I guess I should be open to new things," Aqua seemed a bit reluctant but seemed cheerful at the idea.

"Great!" King Mickey cheered, "I'll let the others know about it! It'll be a blast you'll see, we'll turn that frown upside down."

"I'm lost in my ways not sad," Aqua said.

"You won't be when we're through with you… that wasn't a threat by the way," Mickey corrected himself.

"We're aware," Terra said.

"Anyway I'm off! I'll send you the info for our place and bring Ventus to," Mickey said heading off.

* * *

Terra and Aqua returned to their home only to clean up for a night on the town. Ventus also got ready to join the two.

"So we're finally going out together! What should we do while we're there!?" Ventus asked the two excitedly.

"We're going to King Mickeys Restaurant that's all, and it'll be late at night so we aren't just going to stick around you need your rest," Aqua said.

"Oh come on, Yen Sid said you should lighten up we should do something else while we're there," Ventus said.

"Listen to Aqua Ven," Terra instructed him.

" _ugh_ , come on guys we should have fun, I mean we're finally free to do whatever we want do you really want to just go out for a while and come back?" Ventus questioned.

"Well, I suppose we can take a look around the town," Aqua relented.

"Yes!" Ventus pumped his fist in triumph.

"Not too late though, maybe an hour past your bed time," Aqua said.

"I don't need a bed time!" Ventus argued.

* * *

Once again Terra, and Ventus donned their armor and started their flight to King Mickeys home with Aqua who held on tightly to Terra. The trio began to head south of Disney Town. There was a small business like area, the more the three went south the more metropolitan the area seemed but still retained a bit of its country like charm.

"That looks like the place," Terra said.

Terra pointed out to what looks like the entrance to a movie theater at the corner of a four way intersection. Search lights lit up into the sky and the entrance itself gave a magical looking glow amid the rest of the dreary dark looking street. There already seemed to be a few differently shaped people already entering.

"This place looks nice," Aqua said still hanging behind Terra as they began their decent from the sky, "I guess this will be nice, it'll be good for us to meet other people."

"… is that a pumpkin carriage?" Terra questioned.

Aqua looked around where Terra was pointing. Among the different people walking in and driving different vehicles there appeared to be a while pumpkin carriage being pulled by four white horses.

"That looks… a bit out of place," Aqua said in confusion.

"W-Whoa!" Ventus cried out. Aqua and Terra immediately stopped thinking that Ventus was in trouble, but to their shock there was a flying elephant curiously poking at Ventus.

"H-Hey watch it!" Ventus complained as the flying elephant grasped his armored hand with its trunk before flying off towards the nightclub.

"Okay that was definitely out of place," Aqua said, "Maybe we should talk to the King."

"No," Terra answered.

"What? There's clearly something wrong with this place," Aqua argued, "Look there's a giant walking towards the restaurant."

"Aqua we're here to relax," Terra told her, "You heard what Master Yen Sid said no working, the King isn't foolish I'm sure there's an explanation for all this."

"I'm talking to him about this," Aqua stood her ground on the matter.

"Fine you can ask him, but then you need to stop worrying so much about this," Terra ordered her.

"You're not the boss of me, which one of us is the Master here?" Aqua tried to taunt him.

"Where's your Keyblade again?" Terra asked her.

"… just land," Aqua grumbled in annoyance.

They reached closer to the ground passing by the bright sign that labeled the large place as "House of Mouse".

As soon as the three of them touched ground Ventus was already excited seeing all the different people and creatures that entered the place.

"Well… at least it looks peaceful," Aqua said.

"Hello there," a young… person greeted her and Terra. Aqua couldn't tell who or what this person was but he reminded her of a young Goofy, "Shall I park your… flying vehicle for you?" he offered the three.

"Oh uh no, it comes with me," Terra said, his armor disappeared before his speeded changed back into a Keyblade appearing in his hand and then disappearing once again.

"Oh wow, that looks like the same kind of sword my boss has," the young teen said.

"You mean King Mickey?" Aqua asked.

"Oh yeah, but boss sounds less intimidating. You friends with him?" the teen asked the two.

"Uh… yes we fought together," Aqua answered with hesitance and caution.

"Oh so you're his friends," the teen said happily, "Hey there I'm Max I do the valet here," he said immediately shaking Terra's hand before Terra could act.

"Um, hi," Terra said worried about what this boy Max might have known.

As the two were speaking to each other Aqua and Terra felt the ground start to shake. Behind the two seemingly out of nowhere something seemed to pop out of the ground. Terra and Aqua backed up from what looked like a devious lair made of stone in the shape of a tigers head but Max seemed completely fine.

Out of the tigers mouth walked out a man dressed in red and black with a cobra looking scepter. Aqua and Terra took a ready stance feeling something dangerous about this man.

"Hey Jaffar," Max called out with a friendly wave, "Good to see you again."

The man Jaffar said nothing and didn't acknowledge Max, only tossing what looked like a gold bug that fluttered its wings magically flying in the air and landing in Max's hand as Jaffar continued his stroll into the House of Mouse.

"Well guys it was nice meeting you but duty calls," Max said taking a stroll into the stone tigers mouth with no sign of fear. The ground shook as the tigers head descended into the ground that magically fixed itself hiding any sign of the caves appearance.

"Was that a cave that grew out of the ground?" Ventus asked finally catching up with his two friends.

"We're leaving now," Aqua said grabbing Ventus's hand.

"What? NO! Come on!" Ventus complained trying to tug his hand back, "We just got here, there's so much cool stuff happening!"

"Not until I know this place is safe," Aqua stood her ground.

"Aqua I'm sure there's an explanation for all this just give it a chance. King Mickey wouldn't bring us here only to put us in danger," Terra tried to reason with her.

"You can't tell me you didn't feel that," Aqua argued.

"Yes that sultan looking guy had an exceptional amount of darkness in him, but he hasn't done anything yet," Terra said.

"And you don't need to worry about me, I'm a Keyblade wielder to," Ventus told her.

"… _sigh_ fine," Aqua gave in letting go of Ventus's hand, "But I don't see how I'm going to be able to relax in this place."

* * *

" _Awwwwwww_!" Aqua cooed at the puppies.

As soon as the three walked in they saw a large litter of Dalmatian puppies gathered near the front desk desk. Aqua couldn't help herself and began petting a few of the closest ones before picking them up and hugging each one by one.

"I'm starting to see why Chirithy didn't want to come," Terra said.

"… maybe we should get her a pet?" Ventus suggested.

" _Ehhh_ maybe when there's less work to do," Terra thought for a moment.

"Excuse me miss," a young Duck in a business dress got Aqua's attention, "I'm gonna have to ask you to give Pongo and Perdita their kids back."

She pointed to the two tallest Dalmatian dogs in a red and blue collar who somehow looked annoyed at Aqua.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry," Aqua quickly put the two puppies she was hugging down.

"I'm very sorry about that, your table is ready," the duck woman said leading the large group of dogs into the business. Aqua seemed to sadden the farther the puppies went.

" _Sigh_ They were so cute," Aqua said.

"So… they serve dogs here to, this place just keeps looking more and more interesting," Ventus said both confused and excited.

"Is that even allowed in restaurants?" Terra asked with concern.

"Maybe… the King is in charge so I guess he can do whatever he wants," Aqua said.

"Huh…," Ventus started looking around the entrance area trying to see if there was any more things completely out of place, "This seems like a weird place to put a giant mirror," he said noticing said large object laid on the side of the entrance path.

Ventus stood in front of it looking over himself but in a flash Aqua and Terra suddenly stood in front of him as though they were afraid of something.

"Wha- guys!?" Ventus questioned when the two stood in his way.

"I can feel you," Aqua said looking over the blank mirror.

Ventus was about to ask what the two were doing but the reflection in the mirror suddenly turned all black. A bright flame lit up on the mirror as though it was a window before a mask like face appeared.

"Whoa," Ventus started at the mirror. Terra seemed to relax a bit but Aqua kept up a firm guard as the face looked over the group.

"Aqua, Terra, and Ventus I see. Back together in their family of three," the Mirror spoke.

"What are you doing here?" Aqua questioned.

"This isn't the world you belong in how did someone bring you here?" Terra asked his own question.

"Wait you guys know this mirror?" Ventus asked.

"I fought him once," Aqua said, "I think he was being used as a distraction while someone attacked Snow White."

"I'm not here to fight or bring harm to you, I'm merely an accessory to decorate the room. This world's heart has ties through existence, I placed myself here to offer guest assistance," the mirror spoke.

"I don't think we need to worry about him," Terra said.

"I thought you said he attacked you as well," Aqua argued still in a defensive stance.

"From what I saw he couldn't fight without outside help," Terra said.

"Terra! Aqua! Ven!" the three heard in a somewhat unclear voice. It was Donald Duck calling out to the three giving a happy wave.

"Donald!" Ven called back just as happy, "It's good to see you again, wow you look different without your wizard clothes," Ven commented noticing his more business like appearance.

"Yeah it's been a while, but it's nice to be back at this old place," he said shaking Ven's hand, "glad the three of you could make it."

"It's good to see you again to," Terra said.

"Yeah," Aqua said still a bit cautious of the place, "um Donald where did you get that mirror?" she said pointing to the magic mirror.

"Oh him, he's been working here a while," Donald said.

"You… do know where he comes from right?" Aqua asked skeptical.

"Yeah from Snow Whites world," Donald said.

"You know who owned him though right?" Aqua continued her interrogation.

"Yeah from her," Donald said pointing behind his back with his thumb.

Off in the distance the three could see someone sinister looking sitting at a table. Aqua and Terra saw that it was the wicked queen who had a passive and evil looking glare.

"How is… how is she here?" Ven asked more confused then worried.

"She had a reservation," Donald said.

"And… you're okay with her being here?" Terra asked now just as worried.

"Is King Mickey here?" Aqua asked

* * *

The three friends and Donald entered the back room, it looked like a place for show planning with different doors that had golden plaques on them.

"Aqua, Terra, Ven!" they were greeted once again, this time by Queen Minnie who was also dressed for work and holding a PDA device.

"Your majesty," Aqua greeted bowing along with her two friends.

"Oh there's no need for that just call me Minnie," queen Minnie said, "Welcome to our club, how are you liking it so far?"

"I don't thing King Mickey explained how this place works," Donald said, "they're worried about some of the guest."

"There's an evil witch eating at this place," Aqua said worried.

"Which one? There's ten of them here tonight," Minnie asked.

"Wh- Ten!?" Aqua questioned sounding even more worried.

"Well tonight dinning with us is Madam Mim, Gothel, Ursula and her sister Morgana, Yzma-," Minnie listed off.

"Queen Minnie please stop," Terra interrupted her when he noticed how stressed Aqua seemed to look with each name, "We were wondering is… everything natural here? Because we're noticing things that look like they don't belong."

"Oh dear he didn't tell you at all?" Minnie placed a hand on her cheek in worry.

* * *

* _Knock knock knock_ * "Mickey Mouse you come out here right now," Minnie called out sternly.

She was knocking on the door with a large star on it labeled with the Kings name.

* _klack klack_ * " _O-Oh j-just just a second!_ " King Mickey called out along with the sound of something being rattled in a can. In a few long seconds the King opened his door, "What can I do for- Oh Aqua you're all here… you look worried is everything okay?"

"Mickey Mouse, did you forget to tell her how this place works?" Minnie scolded him.

"Oh… did I?" Mickey didn't seem to remember the event.

"The poor girls been worried sick thinking we've been invaded," Minnie told him.

"I wasn't that worried," Aqua tried to say.

"Ooooh that's right," King Mickey said in realization, "first of all everything's fine."

"Even with all the witches?" Terra asked.

"Yup… I mean the villains did attempt a takeover at one point but we took care of it," Mickey said.

"Please just tell us what's going on?" Aqua said.

"This area is a special part of our world," King Mickey began, "it's like when people's hearts connect except all the worlds around us are connected. At night those connections to other worlds sort of partially become accessible to the hearts living on those worlds-."

"It's a bunch of magic," Donald blurted out.

"Oh that makes much more sense," Ventus said.

"What-? No it doesn't," Aqua spoke back.

"Well it kind of does," Mickey said, "I can give you the finer points of how this all works later but unfortunately not to be rude we have a schedule and show to set up."

"But we're all going to be fine is what youre saying right?" Terra asked.

"Oh yeah, I mean short of a harmless shenanigan once or twice a week we haven't had any issues," Mickey said.

"Isn't introducing a bunch of people to a different world bad? What about protecting the world border?" Ventus asked.

"ORDER!" Donald yelled.

"That's the beauty of worlds connecting to each other, to everyone here it's like this is a part of their world," Mickey said, "Guys we've been doing this for a long time you've got nothing to worry about, scouts honor," he said giving a weird salute.

"Alright, you've never been one to skim on the safety of worlds," Terra said.

"Right… _heh_ uh right," King Mickey sounded a bit nervous, "Anyway just need to touch up a bit more before going on," he said opening up his door.

* _klank_ * When King Mickey opened the door a small aerosol can rolled up against his feet.

"Starch?" Ventus read the can on the ground, "Why do you-." " _Ah_ dadadada just ignore that," King Mickey interrupted quickly kicking the can back in his room, "Donald could you take them to their table?"

* * *

"AND NOW!" a voice echoed through the House of Mouse from a sentient microphone, "RETURNING FROM WHAT FEELS LIKE 12 YEARS, MICKEY MOUSE!"

"HEYA EVERYONE!"

The entire room was filled with applause from everyone at the sight and announcement of King Mickey dressed in a much more formal looking suit.

"Glad to be back! It's been a really long time sorry about the wait but the House of Mouse is officially reopened!," King Mickey said inciting another cheer, "We got a nice show for you all with some classic bands returning, but before we begin I just want to remind everyone of some of the new rules we have here. First off no smoking of any kind of any thing."

* * *

"Why's he looking at me when he says that?" a young blonde girl with hearts on her cheeks asked.

"Star your rainbow's on fire," the boy in a red hoodie said pointing above her head where a small cute rainbow was currently on fire.

"Oh," the girl Star snapped her fingers making the rainbow magically disappear.

* * *

"Guest are required to eat at ground level," King Mickey continued.

* * *

One of the empty tables were suddenly filled by a boy in a red and blue spider costume who dangled down from the ceiling with a web like looking rope from his wrist.

"Sorry," he said to nobody.

* * *

"Also we'd like to ask that you not to tempt anyone over to the dark side we've been over this already it's a different concept here. I'm looking at you Kylo Ren," King Mickey said pointing off at a table that had a strangely dressed man in some futuristic mask.

"You are strong with the force, much stronger than you know," the man Kylo Ren called back out, he was holding his hand out towards King Mickey like he was trying to awkwardly wave hello.

"Also while it's not a rule just as a common curtesy to everyone please be nice to each other," Mickey said a little sternly.

"YOU KNEW THE DEAL WHEN DISNEY BOUGHT MY SIDE!" King Mickey was yelled at by a man in a full red and black suit with guns holster's on his side and swords on his back, "Wait should I even be here? Doesn't fox own me? Wait would Square be okay with me showing up? _Ugh_ corporate buy outs are just a bunch of-."

"OKAY! Now let's start off tonight's night at the House of Mouse," King Mickey said as cheery as ever, "Put your hands together for Huey, Dewey, and Louie!"

In the stage to the left was Donald's nephews in rock and roll costumes each played on bass, guitar, and drums. The Music started up and Mickey began his exit off stage.

* * *

Ventus, Aqua, and Terra got a table close to the front stage, there was a small band area to the left with a giant TV screen. All around the three there were different people and creatures from all sorts of different worlds. Aqua kept a vigilant eye out for any who looked like villains. Terra was keeping an eye on Aqua while Ven looked over the menu.

"They give these foods some weird names Peter Pan Cakes, Chicken Beast Salad, Mac and Cheshire cheese are these named after people?" Ventus asked.

"None who I know," Terra said, "You doing okay Aqua?" he noticed her being tense.

"Yes… I'm… sorry I know I'm supposed to relax but it's difficult," Aqua apologized.

"What? This place is really cool how are you not having fun," Ventus asked, "There's a lion right over there with a… pig and a I think it's a cat?"

"It's interesting but I think it might be a while before I'm able to relax," Aqua said with a sad sigh, "Maybe coming to a crowded place wasn't the best idea for me."

"We always need to push ourselves if we want to improve, that's what our Master taught us," Terra said, "I know it might be hard but you're strong you'll get through this."

"Right, you're right this is nothing. King Mickey and everyone are fine with all this so there shouldn't be any issues," Aqua agreed though a bit forcefully.

"Hey relax, we're together again. There's nothing in this place we can't face," Ventus told her.

"Right… right," Aqua said depressed for some reason, "I'm… I'm just going to use the restroom," she said getting up from her chair.

Terra was even more concerned when he saw Aqua leave.

"Did she sound sad?" Ventus questioned.

"We used to think that just working together would be enough for anything, and then-" Terra trailed.

"Oh… right, t-that wasn't her fault though we were tricked to fight against each other," Ventus said.

"She's not going to see it that way," Terra said, "What happened to us? We used to be so close together but… I don't know what happened ever since we took our mark of mastery exam and she became a Keyblade Master there's been something just working against us."

"We weren't that bad we… worked together that one time against that big Unversed in Radiant Garden," Ventus argued but fell short.

"That was probably the last time we ever got together again properly, and even then we went our separate ways," Terra said, "… when uh… did we always have these candles on the table?" he said confused.

"Oh… I didn't notice either but they look nice," Ventus said.

"Do you wish to help the girl?"

" _WHOA!" "AHH_!" Both Terra and Ventus pushed themselves away from the table as though it was suddenly a dangerous thing. The three candled candelabra had suddenly moved on its own, Terra and Ventus also thought they saw eyes and a mouth on it.

"Oh ho ho, so sorry my friends I did not mean to frighten you," the candle spoke to the two, he tipped his middle candle to them as though it were a hat, "I am Lumière, at your service," he bowed.

"Uh… hello?" Terra spoked.

"Hi," Ventus also greeted him back, "are you… part of the decoration?"

"Oh no, I am a guest here just like you," Lumière said turning to Terra, "Pardon me sir but I could not help but overhear, you said something about a key blade?" he questioned curiously.

"What? N-no there-," Terra panicked trying to think up an excuse, Ventus also looked worried about the info that was spilled.

"Tell me, does the name 'Sora' mean anything to you sir?" Lumière continued on.

"You know Sora?" Terra asked relaxing a bit with Ventus.

"Ah so you are friends with him," Lumière concluded happily, "My own friends and I owe a great debt to your friend Sora and his companions. Without his expert swordsmanship me and my friends would surly have suffered a terrible fate."

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you, I'm Terra."

"And I'm Ventus," he said as well, "and that was Aqua," he said pointing where Aqua left.

"Ah yes the young mademoiselle," Lumière said, "I hope I'm not intruding into your personal business but I could not help but notice that the young woman looked very sad."

"You could tell to," Terra said, "Well we can't really say much but somethings been bothering her, and K- Mickey Mouse our friend offered to let us come here to help her.

"Ah you are also friends with Mickey Mouse as well, you must be the very important types," Lumière commented, "I wish to help you," he simply stated.

"What? With what?" Terra questioned.

"With your good friend of course the young lady and you," Lumière said, "No one should be sad surrounded by such music, good food, and friends."

"Do you know how to make Aqua happy?" Ventus looked hopeful at his words.

"Yes, these types of matters are something my people know much about," Lumière said.

"Candle people?" Ventus asked.

"Vat? No no French, French people," Lumière said, "Sir Terra if I might be so bold, would you like some tips on how to ease a woman's pained heart?"

"Ease her heart?" Terra couldn't help but focus on those three words, "Can you really help ease her heart?"

"But of course, you see my two friends over there?" Lumière said pointing over to a table that had a young woman and a large hulking brown furred animal looking creature, "The two of them started out hating each other when they met, now with a bit of help from yours truly the two are as happy as can be together."

Terra could see the two people Lumière pointed at talking and being happy, something he missed him and Aqua doing together a very long time ago before the matters with their Mark of Mastery exam.

"Do you... really know what to do?" Ventus asked, "Why do you want to help us."

"As I said, any friend of Sora's is a friend of mine. Seeing a friend of Sora's so sad is something that I cannot ignore," Lumière said.

"You can... really help ease her heart?" Terra again.

"Of course, you have my word," Lumière said.

"Okay what can I do?" Terra asked

* * *

Aqua stepped out of the women's restroom after splashing a bit of water on her face, as she was exiting there was a strange sight in front of her.

"Go GO! Come on let's go," there was a woman in a red strangely tattooed top and a long skirt make of what looked like dried grass, Aqua could tell that this woman was probably some kind of island native.

She appeared to be pushing a long body of water the size of a car that skid along the ground like a fast moving slug.

"Hi sorry could you please hold the door open?" the island woman asked Aqua who said nothing and just pulled open the door to the women's room.

"I told you to stay home," the islander said pushing the large body of water that molded its body to fit through the door, "Look I don't care how you're doing it you're going back to the ocean… t-the rest of you you're going back to the rest of your body."

Aqua still said nothing as she let the door close and just went back to the table where Terra and Ventus were waiting for her.

"Oh these are nice, where did the candles come from?" Aqua asked seeing the new decoration on their table.

"I… um… asked for them," Terra said, "I thought they might set the mood a bit better."

"Well they do look a bit nice," Aqua said, "I do like the extra light."

"That's good, that's good," Terra agreed with her.

"Is everything okay?" Aqua thought her friends looked a bit tense.

"Yup everything is okay," Ventus said.

"… let's order something," Terra said.

"Did you hear something?" Aqua asked, she thought she heard someone talking past the candelabra.

"Nope." "Nope." Terra and Ventus both answered.

* * *

"Hey there fellas!" Goofy greeted he himself was dressed in what seemed like a casual design of a chef suit, "Glad to see the three of you again, hey where's Sora?"

"Oh, he didn't come with us," Terra said.

"Daw, I miss him, I wanted to introduce him to my son Max," Goofy said.

"Your son?" Aqua questioned slowly.

"Max? The Valet driver in the front?" Terra also asked slowly.

"Yup, anyway what can I get for the three of you?" Goofy took out a small notepad and pencil.

"U-um I'll take the Under the Sea Fish Stew," Aqua said still a bit taken aback by what Goofy said.

"The Tiki Room Teriyaki wings," Ventus said just as curious as Aqua.

"I'll… take the Olympian Minotaur Mincemeat Pie," Terra ordered, "… Oh and a bottle of sparking Enchanted Rose."

"Ooh fancy," Goofy commented, "I'll be back, it was nice seeing you guys Terra, Aqua, Ven, Lumière," he said his goodbyes before moving over to the next table to take other orders.

"Why did- who's Lumière?" Aqua asked confused.

"So Goofy has a son?" Ventus quickly interrupted.

"Apparently," Terra said.

"Does… Sora know?" Ventus asked.

"No." "No." Aqua and Terra both answered.

"… should we ask Goofy more about that?"

"No." "No." Aqua and Terra answered again.

"…So… hows… training going for you two?" Terra asked.

"I swear I think I hear a voice," Aqua said to herself, "Well another friend of Sora and Mickey wanted to borrow Roxas and Axel so the workload between me and Riku will be cut for a while. Which is good I guess since Master Yen Sid said I should take a break from training."

"Wait what?" Ventus questioned.

"Oh right I guess we forgot to tell you," Aqua said.

"So you can't train me?" Ventus asked a bit sad.

"It's only temporary just until I sort a few things out, there's plenty you can do on your own," Aqua told him.

"We'll just do the old muscle exercise routine for a while, we can do it together," Terra said.

"I hope it's not just that, he should also study some magic," Aqua said.

"Right we'll balance it," Terra said, "… maybe I should help you out then?"

"Well, you're both still in training so you can both do training together," Aqua said.

"Oh, right," Terra remembered.

"Besides I don't think you ever took magic study that seriously," Aqua said.

"What? I took it seriously," Terra said.

"Well you would always try to escape the library whenever we were studying," Aqua told him.

"Not all the time, and I remember having to take longer on jogs because you would always collapse," Terra said.

"Well we were never perfect," Aqua said.

"… oh uh… what was training for the two of you like?" Ventus asked them.

"There it is again," Aqua looked around herself for a brief second, "Well Terra would always boast about how much physically stronger he was than me in our training."

"You kept showing off with your magic," Terra said, "And of course Master Eraqus kept trying to make us see that it was okay to have different strengths, but when he said 'strengths' I saw that as an excuse to say that my strengths were better."

"This is why you need to study more," Aqua said.

"We were kids I'm smarter now," Terra argued.

" _mmnnnn_ ," Aqua seemed to want to say something.

"I am!" Terra argued.

"Well I guess you're not trying to lift boulders over your head," Aqua said.

"I was a kid, you did it to!" Terra said.

"I did, but I never dropped any on me," Aqua said back.

"It doesn't count if your using gravity magic," Terra argued.

"I kind of does," Aqua gave a smug look. Terra was trying to think of a way to counter her argument, but Ventus was just feeling better seeing Aqua smile once again.

* * *

"And how would you two like your coffee?" Goofy asked the two people at his current table.

"Half sugar half cream," a large purple titan of a man said, "perfectly balanced."

"And for you?" Goofy asked the second person who was wearing a large helmet and some other black devices on his chest.

* _INHALE* *EXHALE_ * "Black," he stated in a deep voice.

* * *

Aqua almost squeeled in delight when she saw a trio of penguins arrive with three different plates. Each one placed what they ordered right in front of them. A fourth penguin arrived holding a bottle labeled "Enchanted Rose" setting it in a bucket of ice in the middle of the table with a bottle opener.

"Okay, I'm starting to like this place," Aqua agreed looking around.

"… it's nice to see you happy," Terra said.

"There… does seem to be some weird echoing here," Aqua said, "So… what's so special about this?" she asked gesturing to the bottle of wine.

"Oh it's… uh… I heard its something that helps make things fun?" Terra said.

"What?" Aqua questioned hearing another echo.

"It's just something I heard that people drink together," Terra said.

"Well let's try it out," Aqua said.

"Okay," Terra took the bottle and gave the top a twist, "Uh… hold on."

"Terra wait I think you need to use this," Ventus said pointing to the corkscrew.

* _CRACK_ * Terra had already twisted hard enough to break the neck of the bottle. Aqua could tell he used a bit of magic to break it since the top was cleanly cut.

"Uh… did I not do it right?" Terra questioned.

" _Pfft_!" Aqua held back a laugh, "I thought you were smarter than before."

"I've never opened one of these before, I thought the wrapping on top was a lid," Terra said.

"Well it doesn't look like any glass got in," Aqua examined the broken off top not finding any cracks, "It's salvageable."

"Oh good," Terra felt relieved.

Terra poured a bit for himself and his two friends, right out of the bottle Aqua could tell there was a sweet soft fragrance that seemed to bubble. Terra didn't seem to fill the glasses as much as he could.

"There's room for more," Aqua said when he filled her wine glass only a third full.

"I'm apparently only supposed to fill it a bit at a time," Terra said.

"Why?" Aqua questioned.

"…it helps the flavor taste better?" Terra said.

"Okay now I know I'm not hearing things," Aqua grabbed the candelabra and moved it to the side trying to see past the instrument.

"I-I don't hear anything," Ventus said, he and Terra kept an eye on the candles as Aqua waved it around, the decoration kept as still as ever.

"… maybe I am more stressed than I thought," Aqua said placing the candles back where they were.

"Yeah it must be," Ventus quickly agreed.

"So… to us I guess," Terra said raising his glass.

"Yeah, to keeping the legacy going," Aqua said.

"Yeah," Ventus raised his glass up as well.

* _clank_ * * _clank_ * * _CRACK_ * The three of them clinked their glasses together, Terra once again used too much strength and shattered his glass completely spilling it on the table.

" _Ugh_ ," Terra groaned at the mess he made while Aqua and Ventus both laughed.

"You really can't control your strength can you?" Ventus chuckled.

"I told you," Aqua said.

"Right right, I guess I'm just everyone's joke for the night," Terra complained, though he was also glad that Aqua seemed to be happy once again.

* * *

"And now!" Mickey announced to the crowd, "Here to perform one of his death defying stunts, Canada's greatest Stuntman, Duke Caboom!"

The stage had somehow without notice gained a few strange objects. From left to right there was a large trampoline net, next to it was a large pool filled with water that had shark fins swimming around it. In the middle of that pool was a large ring on fire.

At the end of these items was a large ramp almost reaching the ceiling, and at the top of that ramp looked to be some toy looking man in white with a cape that had an image of a maple leaf. The toy looking man did poses on what looked like a toy motorcycle.

A drum roll was heard as the toy got in position and moved forward a bit.

Duke began his decent, everyone in the audience kept their focus as they watched the toy ride the deep ramp. After seconds Duke reached the dip of the ramp and began his ascent. He reached the end of the ramp and began flying off.

* _thunk_ *

Only to hit the ground a second later three inches from his takeoff point, he didn't even reach the pool.

The audience started booing at the performance.

During this in the backstage Mickey and Donald cringed at the terrible performance they just saw.

"You hired him instead of O'malley and the Alley cats?" Mickey asked.

"He looked amazing in the commercials," Donald responded.

* * *

" _Mnn_ , this is actually pretty good," Ventus commented biting the meat off one of his wings, "Just wish they weren't covered in so much sauce… oh!"

Ventus snapped his fingers, a light conjuring of water magic surrounded his fingers washing it away.

"You can already control it that precisely," Aqua commented.

"Oh yeah, I guess. Is it really that impressive?" Ventus questioned.

"Yes, this is combat magic you learn to use as much of it and as powerful as you can for combat and you're using it in a precise and small way," Aqua started to look a bit down, "You're much farther along than I thought. You might be able to reach master much sooner than I planned."

"Oh really," Ventus sounded happy, but lost his joy when he heard Aqua speak, "Is that bad?"

"No no it's… it's nothing," Aqua said.

"What's wrong?" Terra said a bit commanding.

" _Sigh_ … It's selfish but… I don't know what I'm going to do when Ventus is done training," Aqua said, "I'm a Master now but… I feel like I haven't accomplished anything or even have anything left to accomplish it just makes me feel like everything I've worked for was pointless."

"It wasn't pointless, there's always going to be some… place that needs help," Terra said carefully choosing his words as he watched the candles, "Didn't you want to train the next generation."

"Well that's not going to be possible until I find my Keyblade," Aqua twirled her spoon in food absentmindedly.

"Do you remember the last place you had it?" Ventus asked her.

"No… it's been so long," Aqua said.

"… oh… I have an idea!" Terra got up like he was suddenly excited.

"What?" Aqua questioned.

"Just come on! Ventus watch out table," Terra said tugging on Aqua's hand.

"Wait wait! Where are we going?" Aqua questioned as she was forcefully pulled away.

Ventus just stared at the two as they left. When they were out of sight Lumière finally moved from his spot.

"It seems to be going well no?" Lumière said.

"Yeah," Ventus said, "It's nice to see her smiling again, well it was."

"Oh have no fear, I have a feeling Terra already knows a way to brighten Aqua's heart," Lumière said.

"Yeah, it's weird to see Terra acting so nice to Aqua. I think he's been with her for so long he forgot she was a girl," Ventus said.

"Was he not always a gentleman to her?" Lumière asked with concern.

"Oh he was definitely never mean to her, but they've been friends since they were kids. I always thought Terra saw Aqua as another one of the guys," Ventus said.

"Ah they have been friends for a long time yes?" Lumière asked.

"Yeah, longer than I've known them," Ventus said.

"Then this is good," Lumière said, "I have no doubt that whatever sparks the two held for each other will no doubt reignite."

"That… kind of sounds like you're trying to get together," Ventus said.

"Yes… was that not obvious?" Lumière questioned.

"Wha-," Ventus felt himself stop thinking for a moment, "Wait Terra and Aqua aren't like that."

"Oh, are you so certain of that?" Lumière questioned Ventus with undoubtable confidence.

"That-… n-no Terra and Aqua, that would be crazy," Ventus tried to argue back.

"Oh? I think it would be sweet, two friends coming together after so long. Who better to fall in love with than someone you've learned to trust and respect your whole life?" Lumière asked.

"That's not how- don't you think it's a bit wrong to trick the two together?" Ventus asked.

"Ventus, I can get people to enjoy a conversation together, I can give tips to make each other feel more at ease with the other," Lumière said, "But to truly fall in love that comes from here… well I assume this is where my heart is," he said patting himself on the base/chest? area of himself.

"Aqua and Terra don't feel that way about each other," Ventus said with denial.

"You wouldn't happen to be jealous would you?" Lumière asked him.

"What-? Ew no, Aqua's like my sister," Ventus said.

"Then you should have no problem with what happens to the two," Lumière said.

"Well it's not going to happen," Ventus continued to deny.

* * *

"Aqua and Terra back again I see, have you come once again to accuse me?" the Magic Mirror spoke.

Terra had quickly taken Aqua back to the front of the House of Mouse where the magic mirror lied. Aqua tried to questioned what Terra was doing but he quickly summoned the spirit in the mirror.

"What's going on?" Aqua asked.

"This Mirror, he was able to tell me where Xehanort was a long time ago," Terra said, "he should be able to find your Keyblade."

"What?" Aqua began to fill with hope, "Can you really tell me?" she asked the mirror.

"I have seen far and wide beyond the worlds that sleep, tell me your question to gain the knowledge you need," the Magic Mirror said.

"… my Keyblade… where is it?" Aqua asked.

"…" The Mirror said nothing but seemed to be thinking, "I see a garden of light that has long lost its glow, but heals now thanks to hero's most bold. I see a castle being rebuilt from the ground, by body's that are hollow but have hope that was found. Deep in a chamber lined with iron and steel, controlled by a mind artificial but real. In a basement made when the owners had depart, there you will find the sword born from your heart."

Terra tried to figure out the worlds that the Mirror spoke along with Aqua who quickly tired to think of the answer out loud.

" _hmm_ , let's see," Aqua questioned, "A garden of light… we've been to a lot of places that have plants… did.. one them have living plants that had light-?"

"HEY MIRROR!" the woman duck at the front desk called out, "Stop with the riddles and just tell them!"

" _sigh_ , there's a basement under the castle at Radiant Garden," the mirror said annoyed.

"wha REALLY!" Aqua felt like jumping for joy, "Get Ven! We're going there now," she demanded.

"In the middle of the night?" Terra questioned.

"Oh… o-okay first thing in the morning then- th- this just feels so exciting!" Aqua was once again filled with joy at the thought of getting her weapon back, "Come on! Let's go tell Ventus," she said tugging Terra away the same way he tugged her.

"No one appreciates dramatic verses anymore," the Magic Mirror said.

* * *

Aqua felt relived to know that what she was missing was finally found, Ventus was also happy to hear that they would be taking a trip to Radiant Garden.

"Where'd our candles go?" Terra asked.

"Oh, uh I said that we wouldn't need it anymore," Ventus said.

Terra turned around to see the couple Lumière pointed at earlier, he was speaking to the woman and beast and there was also a moving clock and teapot that he didn't notice before.

"Uh… Aqua are you done with that?" Ventus asked worried seeing Aqua pour her sixth glass of wine.

"Oh sorry, I'm just so happy I feel a lot less stressed now. We just come here to eat but so many things I feel are finally going to be answered," Aqua said, "We should celebrate, let's get some more," she said turning the empty bottle upside down showing that it was empty.

"I haven't even finished mine," Ventus said holding up his glass that was one sixth full, "But yeah, celebrate, let's order dessert!"

"Alright," Terra just agreed, "yeah let's celebrate!"

* * *

* _Splash_ * Goofy was walking through the tables when he stepped in a puddle, he started scratching his head wondering where all the water came from.

"Excuse me," Hade's lord of the Underworld called from the table on Goofy's left, "I don't think I'm going to be able to sit next to her can I get a new table." The top of Hade's head had been put out and taken over by ice frozen in the shape of fire.

"I was about to say the same thing," Queen Elsa said from the table on Goofy's right stated. Parts of her dress had black spots of soot from burns, the tip of her braided hair has a red ember glow. Else pinched the end of her hair putting the ember out to the sound of a small hiss, "I can't imagine anyone would be happy sitting next to someone so rude."

"Watch it lady," Hades said, "Word of warning; I know all the lawyers."

* * *

The night had lasted far longer than they intended, they had ordered two more bottles of enchanted Rose and Aqua seemed to be addicted to the sweet taste that she drank the majority of it. Ventus was happy to try the desserts, they even had his old flavor. Terra was fine watching Aqua just enjoy herself for once, he was glad King Mickey invited them here.

However when it came time for them to leave Aqua seemed to have some difficulty standing, Terra had to help her up, but she seemed to doze off at times.

" _Heh heh_ , do we have to leave?" Aqua questioned with a slight slur in her voice.

"Yes Aqua, it's late," Terra said.

" _groooan_ ," Aqua let out a girly groan.

"Are you okay?" Ventus asked, "I don't think I've ever seen you like this well fun, it's kind of nice ACK-!"

" _Heh heh_ , you're so adorable," Aqua commented pinching Ventus's cheek.

"Okay you're too fun now," Ventus said rubbing his sore cheeks.

"She should be fine once we get her to bed," Terra said, "I think we both forgot that wine can have a strange effect on people."

"Was that stuff bad?" Ventus questioned remembering he had a glass as well.

"I'll tell you about it when you're older," Terra said activating his armor.

"I'm not that young," Ventus argued activating his armor as well.

Aqua reluctantly sat behind Terra as he made her hold on to him. The two of them began their flight into the sky back to their home world. They were about to reach the upper limit of the world high in the sky.

"Just hold on Aqua," Terra said, "Are you able to hold-… _huh_?" he felt around his waist looking for Aqua's arms.

"TERRA!" Ventus yelled loudly pointing down.

Terra turned around and saw Aqua who was falling.

"AQUA!" Terra yelled in horrid fear as he and Ventus started flying down as fast as they could.

* * *

"See ye Herbie," Max waved to a car.

* _Honk honk_ * a small white Volkswagen Beetle with the number 53 on it honked before driving off.

* _WHOOOOSH_ * A sudden and huge gust of wind blasted around the area and Max shielded his eyes from the dust. When the wind died he saw Terra who was holding on to Aqua who had been asleep through her entire ordeal, he had flown directly down from the sky and immediately had to pull up before hitting the ground causing his jets to create that small dust cloud.

Ventus flew down as well next to Terra who was relieved to see Aqua was fine.

"… Hey uh Max," Terra called out to the boy who was still shocked at what happened, "Do you know where we can rent a room for the night?"

* * *

The three friends had found a place to stay at Disney Town, the two of them were able to rent two rooms for the night.

"I'll take Aqua to her room," Terra said carrying his friend.

"Alright… just… just to take her to her room right?" Ventus strangely asked.

"Yes… what else would I do?" Terra asked confused as his question.

"Nothing, just… nothing good night," Ventus said.

* * *

The room they had given for Aqua was a small cozy room, a small bed with a desk and closet.

"Alright Aqua bed time," Terra said, "Wow that feels weird to say to you."

" _nooo_ ," Aqua cried out, "Come on I'm still awake."

"You can barely stand up straight," Terra told her as she tried to walk past him.

"I'll get past you," Aqua said playfully trying to shuffle to the side, though in her state she just stumbled as Terra caught her before she fell.

" _nnnnnngh_ ," Aqua started trying to push Terra down placing both her hands on his shoulders, but he didn't budge.

"Aqua plese stop it," Terra said, " _sigh_ why am I suddenly the responsible one?"

* _kiss_ * Aqua took this moment to suddenly jump up and kiss terra on the lips.

" _Di-d_ Aqua!" Terra called out in shock.

"Now's my chance!" * _THUD_ * Aqua tried to run past Terra but tripped and fell face first onto the floor.

Terra knew he should help her up but he kept pressing his fingers on his lips where Aqua had just kissed him.

* * *

Ventus heard the door to his room open, Terra walked in and just silently took his bed.

"So… is Aqua okay?" Ventus asked.

"Yeah she… she'll be fine," Terra sounded like he had gotten some terrible news.

"What? What happened?" Ventus questioned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: I am super late with this but I just could not find a way to end this, this chapter beats my pervious word count record by a long shot.
> 
> Be sure to give me a review/comment/kudo and let me know what you thought of this chapter.


	13. Attempted Step

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: I'm not getting a lot of reviews and I don't want to end this fic before getting to the good stuff that this fandom desperately needs I'm sick of only having fics that are all Yaoi. But I'm not getting enough feedback, I get it you don't want any trace to you on an M/Explicit fic but I don't feel motivated writing over 10,000 words for just a few reviews. I don't know I'm just complaining.

Kairi didn't know how this had happened, she remembered being at home speaking to Sora and her friends and now she wasn't. She was back at the cage she had been locked in long ago when Xehanorts nobody was in charge of the Organization. There were the same familiar lavender color of the prison, nothing interesting on the walls in a five sided room with a line of bars as her only view outside. Sora and Riku had completely obliterated the castle long ago so why would she be here.

"Hello!? HELLO!?" Kairi called out, her voice echoing far in the complete silence. No one was going to respond to her and this time she didn't have Pluto to keep her company. Kairi didn't know how long she had been waiting or if she had been waiting at all, she just took her usual spot in the back corner of the prison and hugged her knees to her chest.

In her worried state she realized that someone had dressed her in her old outfit with her white halter top underneath her pink strapless mini dress with zippers. Feeling the back of her head she even felt her hair had gotten longer once again. Kairi was about to question if she had somehow been thrown back in time but was interrupted. In her worries someone had entered through the other side of the bars.

"Sora!" Kairi called out. Kairi felt relief and joy seeing Sora appear to save her once again, she ran up to him giving him a hug "What's going on? How did you get here? Didn't you and Riku destroy this place?" she asked still holding on to him.

…

…

…

"Sora?"

Kairi let go of him thinking that something was wrong and examined his face. He didn't respond or even move, he didn't even looked worried that he had found her in a cage, he just stared at her with no emotion on his face.

"Sora? Can you say something?"

There was a long awkward pause, but after a few more moments Sora stepped forward and place both hands on top of her bare shoulders. Like a deer to headlights she froze from fear but Sora kept leaning down.

"Sor- _MPH_!" It wasn't until Sora had captured her lips in his that she began to truly worry, embarrassment welled up in her cheeks and Kairi leaned away from him.

" _W-W_ ait!" Kairi squeaked out trying to press him back, Sora's same emotionless expression didn't change "What-? Wh-? I-I'm glad to see you bu- _EEEEP_!"

Sora said nothing, his right hand left her shoulder and without a word he cupped her left breast through her clothing pushing its entire weight up. Kairi lashed out and shoved Sora away, half from humiliation and half from anger.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Kairi cried out flushing red from embarrassment and anger, she crossed her arms over her chest for protection and took a few steps back.

Once again Sora did nothing but watch her, "Sora? SORA ANSWER ME!" Kairi brought out her Keyblade with one hand and kept her over covering her breast.

Sora took small tentative steps towards Kairi as though he was trying to intimidate her, he was succeeding as Kairi knew all the impossible physics defying strength feats he was capable of. Keeping her Keyblade in one hand and her arm over herself she began backing up at the same rate as him.

In the confusing event Kairi forgot that she was in a cage and eventually she felt her back hit a wall. Kairi became even more worried as Sora kept walking forward at an agonizingly slow pace.

"Sora get back! I-I swear I'll hit you!" she threatened but even she didn't feel any intimidation from her stuttered threats.

Sora was finally a mere two feet from her. Kairi raised her weapon over her head and hesitated but when she saw that Sora would not stop she swung her weapon down at him.

* _CLANG_ * She didn't see it happen, she doubted she could but in less than a second her weapon had been knocked out of her hand. It flew to the side of the cage before clattering to the ground. Despite her failed attempt to attack Sora actually stopped

* _Click_ * Kairi suddenly felt something cold and hard clasp around her ankles. The clanking of chains was heard and suddenly Kairi felt a yank around her feet. From out of nowhere metal cuffs had captured her and chains seemed to phase through the floor. The chains pulled her ankles Kairi's feet skid across the floor as she tried to resist the tugging. Soon she looked as though she was just about to attempt the splits.

Kairi lost her balance bending her body forward and back at the hips swinging her arms trying to find something to hold her up. Sora caught both her hands and grasped her firmly.

"Wait! Sora please wha- _AH_!" Kairi let out another frightened yelp. Sora took ahold of both her hands grabbing both her wrist in his hand. He forced both her arms above her head as high as he could.

* _Click_ * Before Kairi could react another set of cuffs magically appeared around her wrist. The chain link started to raise up forcing Kairi to be stuck in place.

Kairi was now completely helpless to Sora with her legs spread apart and arms forced above her head. Sora placed both palms of his hands on Kairi's cheeks keeping her focused on him.

"Wait Wait Wait! Sora please what's this about!? Why am _MMph_!?"

Sora once again kissed Kairi, this time it was with a bit more force. It felt like he was trying to force her lips apart. Kairi tried to resist but Sora didn't relent it was strange for someone to kiss her for this long.

"- _mmmMMPHMPH_!"

The second Kairi felt a part of her just accept Sora's affection one of his hands went down grasping one breast in his hand placing the entire palm over her mound. Soon his other hand had joined and started massaging her other breast. Sora never left her mouth and Kairi kept letting out muffled cries. She could feel each one of his fingers press into the soft flesh of her breast as he moved them up and down. Soon Kairi felt the pleasure spread and her nipples began to harden and she felt the sensitive movement of Sora's palms going over them through her dress.

Kairi felt fearful at the start but now she felt weak from the new sensation. The feeling of someone touching her like this was a completely new feeling and she slowly stopped her muffled screams. What started as a tickling sensation turned into a very nice and relaxing tickle causing her legs to shake and weaken forcing her to support herself using the chains above her head.

One hand left Kairi's breast and she felt ashamed when she cried disappointed, tilting her body forwards trying to find the hand that left her. Once again Kairi cried out when she felt his hand return down between her thighs.

" _Mnph_ Sora wa- _mmph_!" Kairi tried to speak but Sora just captured her lips in his once again.

His hand trailed upward and Kairi felt his hand press against the front of her panties, his fingers grasped the tiny red bow that decorated the front and gave it a playful tug before pinching the waistband right above-.

* * *

" _SOR-gasp_!" Kairi woke instantly ending the dream. She was in a hazy state trying as the memories of what Sora did to her and how she felt were still fresh and she knew it wasn't going to go away any time soon.

Kairi's hand underneath the covers felt the book she had been reading. The same one Selphie had given her when she gave her relationship advice.

"No no!" Kairi recalled how she spent her night, after being told by Elizabeth that she shouldn't wait and miss her time with Sora she tried to think of the things they needed to do together as soon as possible. She thought about skimming a bit of the beginning of 'Adventures Rescue' for ideas, and then skimmed the middle, and then skimmed the ending.

"Dang it Selphie!" Kairi spouted in a fit of anger tossing the book to the wall letting it hit with a soft thud, "I can't think like this! I shouldn't be dreaming those things!" she argued with herself and patted around the blanket between her legs, "and I shouldn't be reacting like this!" Kairi cried noticing a slightly damp section.

* * *

Kairi was dragging her feet feeling stressed and tired on the walk to school. The events of last nights dream kept replaying and it wasn't the first time she'd had this dream. Ever since their kiss Kairi felt a desire for more from Sora and it plagued her. Her dreams were always the same, she would be in some place like the island or in the forest and Sora would just magically appear. He'd give her a vacant look and just approach her till she fell on her back or was trapped against a corner and just start touching her. She'd try and resist at first but dream Sora just knew where to touch her to-.

" _NNNGH_!" Kairi shook the thoughts out of her head.

"Heeey!" a new voice called. Selphie caught up with Kairi and started walking with her, "Soooo… how are things between-." * _SMACK_ *

"Take this away from me now," Kairi ordered after shoving the smutty book in Selphie's face.

"Hey! Don't just keep it out for others to see," Selphie said quickly taking the book and shoving it in her bag quickly out of anyone's sight, "But did you like it?"

"No!" Kairi said.

"You sure? You had it for a while. You didn't like the relationship Terry and Krystal had?" Selphie asked her in the form of baby talk, "The kind where they love each other and bone consistently?"

"No," Kairi said with the same flat tone.

"You didn't like how Princess Sarah was being pleasured in ways you could probably recreate cause you know magic?" Selphie continued her baby talk.

"NO!" this time Kairi blushed.

"You didn't like the part where Terry saves the day thanks to a magic neckless from Krystal," Selphie asked.

"It was a charm," Kairi corrected.

"HA You read that far in," Selphie cried in victory.

"NO! No I- shut up!" Kairi argued.

"So since you loved it so much want to borrow a sequel?" Selphie asked her.

"Selphie I really don't need your books," Kairi said.

"You sure? There's a bunch of other ones in that series, my favorite one is the one where Terry is cursed and has to have sex before midnight every day or he dies," Selphie said.

"Who-… who keeps coming up with these plots!?" Kairi questioned worried and confused.

"Honestly I never bothered to check the author," Selphie said, "So… anyway I saw the post Sora made… congratulations on getting to that level of your relationship that you two should have gotten to long ago."

"Uh… thank you?" Kairi questioned.

"So how was it? Was it everything you ever dreamed of?" Selphie asked her.

"We just… I mean we just kissed, it was nice to finally do that but it wasn't exactly completely life changing," Kairi said.

"Really? Maybe you're not doing it right," Selphie said taking out her phone, opening up the post Sora made, "No offence but the two of you look like you're giving grandma pecks to each other."

"Well how else do you kiss?" Kairi questioned.

"Did the two of you involve your tongues?" Selphie asked.

"Wha- no," Kairi answered with slight disgust.

"Try getting tongues involved and see what happens you should be able to figure it out," Selphie instructed.

"Why would- why?" Kairi questioned confused to what Selphie was saying.

"Speaking of which tell me," Selphie leaned in closer, "You thinking of trying anything with Sora now?" she whispered.

"Like what?" Kairi asked.

"Oh you know anything that you read about between pages one to all of them?" Selphie asked holding up the bag which had the book Kairi gave her.

"NO!" Kairi shrieked hopping back, "No we-! W-We already just kissed and- we don't- NO!" Kairi flustered trying to think up an excuse.

"What? What's the big deal?" Selphie questioned.

"It's a big… strange step to just think about," Kairi said.

"You're too pure," Selphie complained, "So you've never considered sex?"

"Stop!" Kairi held her hand up like she was trying to stop a car.

"Sssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeee-," Selphie teased the word Kairi seemed to hate.

"STOP!" Kairi ordered again cringing to the now forbidden word.

"You're telling me that after reading this whole thing you're not the least be interested?" Selphie questioned, "You haven't spent any nights of intamacy with your hot boyfriend? No nights imagining being taken captive by some bad guy and being rescued by your hero (Sora) and then thanking him? Physically?"

"NO!" Kairi completely rejected the statement, "And for the record I've been kidnapped before it's not something romantic, it's an impossible combination of boring and horrifying!"

"You've been kidnapped?" Selphie asked surprised, "Wow, you really are a princess."

"Princesses do more than get kidnapped!" Kairi almost yelled.

"And I'm assuming Sora was there to save you?" Selphie asked leaning in with interest.

"No he… yes… I mean one time I was able to… yeah he's helped me a lot," Kairi felt a bit reluctant to admit.

"Aw you can't tell me that's not romantic- wait you two just now had the first kiss," Selphie suddenly realized, "Has he saved you more than once?"

"No… yes," Kairi felt that she was forced to admit.

"And you're just now kissing him?" Selphie questioned, "I feel like you should have kissed him the first time he rescued you."

"We were… I mean we were kind of going through a lot of stuff!" Kairi defended, "I… hugged him the second time he saved me?"

"Hugged!? Second!?" Selphie felt like screaming, "No offense but I feel like you're a bad girlfriend."

"Wh- no I'm not!" Kairi argued.

"Do you do anything for him?" Selphie asked her.

"Well… I… we…," Kairi felt dreadful realizing that she didn't have a direct answer she could give.

"Sora has the strength to survive having brick wall dropped on him after accidentally bumping into it… _snrk_ that was hilarious the hospital kept him for three days thinking it was impossible for him to not be broken after that," Selphie laughed at the memory, "But I'm assuming he got that impossibly strong for you?"

"Not… not just me," Kairi said doubtful of her own words.

"Have you done anything else for him besides hugging him?" Selphie asked her.

"...I've been learning how to fight," Kairi said.

"Did you fight last time you guys were mysteriously gone?" Selphie asked emphasizing her suspicion.

"… yes," Kairi answered weakly.

"I'm sensing a 'but' in there," Selphie interrogated.

"I saved Sora," Kairi quickly answered.

"So that's one rescue from you over a few from Sora?" Selphie said.

"… less because Sora saved me the same day," Kairi admitted.

"Oh wow," Selphie began to sound concerned, "… he doesn't know any other girls does her?"

"What? No he- oh no wait yes he does… several… some who are also princesses," Kairi began to worry.

"So… I know it's super unlikely but maybe you should be doing some things for Sora to cement your relationship," Selphie said, "I really doubt that he would leave you but... I think it's kind of unfair that he's done so much for you and you... I don't know how else to word this but you seem... useless?"

"I'M NOT USELESS!" Kairi shouted.

"Okay okay," Selphie reeled back with both hands raised, "But... you've done things to thank Sora for all he's done right?"

"... no," Kairi realized, she suddenly felt guilty remembering all that Sora had been through. Kairi knew she had her share of traumatic experiences but if even half the stuff Sora talked about were true she realized that he had indeed gone through so much more than her.

"Maybe now that things are peaceful you could do something to thank Sora," Selphie told her.

"I-I can't-," Kairi tried to say.

"I doesn't have to be sex related you prude do whatever generic sexist stereotypical gender role you can for Sora I'm starting to feel like he deserves something," Selphie said, "Because let's be honest Sora would be a catch to any woman, hell maybe I'll try going for him- that's a lie you're my friend I wouldn't do that. But my point still stands; a relationship works both ways and I probably shouldn't judge but I don't think you're doing your half."

"… well… what should I do?" Kairi questioned.

"For Sora? Make him lunch. That seems like something he would like" Selphie stated.

"Yeah… yeah I could do that," Kairi said with new determination.

* * *

"Sora!" Kairi called out.

It was the next day and it was lunch time once again. Sora had arrived before her and already sat down, Kairi approached him holding a brown bag behind her back.

"Kairi, there you are. Class still taking up your time?" Sora asked her.

"Oh yeah everyone just keeps asking for my help," Kairi said cheerfully hiding her surprise, "So anyway I brou- what's that?" she was about to tell Sora what she brought for him till she saw the plate he was eating.

"Oh some Lobster Thermidor and Risotto, I made it at home," Sora told her. His black lunch box looking plate had two halfs of a lobster shell fill with some yellow substance topped with cheese. On the side was what looked like softened rice with mushroom slices.

"How… how did you heat it up?" Kairi asked noticing the steam from the dish.

"Magic," Sora said snapping his fingers causing a tiny flame to flash, "You want some? I brought an extra for you," he said taking out a second black bento.

"That's…. not really-," Kairi tried to say.

"Don't worry, I took out the mushrooms for you," Sora told her.

Kairi felt guilty and defeated, she manuvered herself so that she was near a trashcan and still hiding the item behind her back before tossing it silently into the garbage.

"… yaaay," Kairi said with little enthusiasm.

* * *

"He can cook!?" Selphie questioned.

Selphie decided that the two of them would meet up right after school in Kairi's room to talk about her attempts with Sora. She was excited to hear about the results but was disappointed to what Kairi told her.

"Yes!" Kairi exclaimed landing backwards on her bed in annoyance, "And apparently he can swim deep enough to get the tastiest fish. Just pluck them out of the water with no tools."

"Wait when did he have time to learn how to cook?" Selphie asked.

"Apparently he learned it helping a chef cook new dishes at a five star bistro," Kairi said.

"He has five star level cooking skills!?" Selphie questioned shocked.

"Yes! And I thought I was being fancy when I toasted the bread for bologna sandwiches," Kairi said.

"You were gonna give him sandwiches!? Surely you could cook something better," Selphie questioned.

"No I couldn't," Kairi admitted, "I never really learned to cook that much, even cooking scrambled eggs there's a fifty fifty chance I'd ruin them, and I've seen Sora's eggs they're literally works of art. It was the best thing I could think of for a bagged lunch."

"Wow… so Sora can cook and you can't. Way to break the stereotype," Selphie said like she was congratulating her.

"Thanks," Kairi said sarcastically, "Alright so I can't cook for Sora so… what else do girls do for their boyfriends?"

"Honestly that was all I had, I don't know what else girlfriends do other than look pretty and kiss," Selphie said.

"I don't want our relationship to be just that, there has to be something I can do for Sora," Kairi argued.

"Hmm… oh… maybe buy him something," Selphie suggested.

"Buy him something? Do girlfriends usually buy things for their boyfriends?" Kairi asked.

"Depends on the relationship, but you could afford to get him something nice," Selphie told her.

Kairi thought about it and Selphie was right, being the adopted daughter of the Mayor gave Kairi a little more spending money than most. She wasn't exactly rich but she was better off financially than the majority of kids on the island.

"Okay… what does Sora want?" Kairi asked.

"You would know more than me," Selphie said.

"… he doesn't really want anything," Kairi said, "He's always been so selfless."

"Well you need to figure something out, try and get him to talk about things he likes or would like you should be able to manipulate him," Selphie told her.

* * *

" _groan_ ," Sora complained as the school day finally ended for him and Kairi, "I'm so sick of school, why does Riku get to skip out?" he questioned his girlfriend.

"He took an equivalency test," Kairi told him.

"Can't I do that?" Sora questioned.

"Did you score well on the last math test?" Kairi asked.

"Well… maybe," Sora said.

"Then you can't do what Riku did," Kairi told him getting a small 'aww' from Sora,"Besides he graduated early so he could have more time to train Terra and Lea."

"Yeah I know," Sora said.

"So… what do you feel like doing?" Kairi remembered Selphies idea, "Anywhere you 'want' to go? Anything you 'want' to see? 'Want' to do anything?"

"Why are you asking like that?" Sora questioned her weird emphasis on want.

"Nothing!" Kairi quickly answered.

"… there is one thing that I've been wanting to take a look at," Sora said.

"Off world?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah it's something I've been curious about for a while," Sora said.

* * *

It had only taken them a mere ten minutes from their world thanks to Sora's ship and a warp drive. Kairi was a bit curious as to why Kairi thought they would go to another mysterious looking world but Sora took her to a simple looking one with houses and cars. She was curious why Sora took her to a toy store she thought he outgrew those. He took her to the top floor to a store called 'High Score' a strange looking computer/video(?) store.

"I'm… I'm just not seeing it," Kairi said looking over the tall display of Verum Rex showing a boy named Yazora, "Honestly I think he looks more like Riku."

"Oh come on he has to look like me," Sora said gesturing to the game poster for Verum Rex, "Maybe its cause of my outfit, last time I was here I was a small toy in black-."

"Uh Sora," Kairi gestured to two small kids next to him. Both of them were giving him a curious and worried look at what Sora had said.

"I'll tell you about this later," Sora said scooting away from the kids, "Okay I want to know more about this game I want to play this," he declared looking over the copies of Verum Rex on one of the shelves.

"Oh you want this?" Kairi realized that it was her chance and took a look at the games price which was $69.98. It was expensive, and she was going to have to live cheap for the next couple of allowances but she could manage it.

"Yeah Rex the toy- uh the dinosaur- uh the green- uh my friend," Sora kept an eye out making sure nobody was listening in on his conversation and noticed the two kids were still watching him curiously, "He said it was a great game and he was having trouble beating it."

"Okay, let's get it then," Kairi said reaching out to get a copy.

"Alright, I just gotta buy the console for it," Sora happily said.

"The console?" Kairi paused just as she was about to touch the game.

"Yeah it's like a computer for games," Sora pointed to the back of the store.

Kairi saw the display case for something called a 'Play Plus', a white thin machine that had some orange disc case inside of it and was playing some video.

"How… much are they?" Kairi questioned sounding a bit worried.

"Uh let's see," Sora walked over to the corner of the store where dozens of boxes with Play Plus's were. Kairi took a look at the price and began to dread for her purse when she saw the cost.

$255.99

Kairi knew there was no way she was going to be able to afford it, not without some strict budget cuts and saving her money for the next six months if she was lucky enough to not need anything else. She didn't have enough for what Sora wanted.

"Oh hey there's a DX version, it comes with two controllers we can both play," Sora said excited reading the box.

Kairi took a look at the even bigger box Sora was looking at.

$382.99

Kairi felt a mini stroke in her heart, her plan to get something nice for Sora was obviously not going to happen.

"Hey let's give a few of these games a try," Sora said.

"W-What?" Kairi felt deaf for a second.

"There's a demo we can try with all the games on it, if I get the DX console I get two free games let's see what to get," Sora said.

"Uh… s-sure," Kairi agreed still trying to think of what she would do now, maybe she could still get the game for Sora even if he couldn't play it.

* * *

Sora seemed to enjoy playing Space Cats with Kairi, aiming a space rifle using controller was difficult for Kairi but Sora was able to defeat most of the enemies as he and Kairi worked together to shoot past the evil dog empire. Kairi liked working together with Sora but she didn't know how to feel about shooting her enemies with a gun, it didn't feel right to her.

Sora was abysmally outclassed when the two played Twinkle Puzzle, Kairi was easily able to figure out and calculate patterns to like up multiple chains while Sora struggled to keep his screen from filling up too much.

"That was… actually pretty fun," Kairi said feeling happy to do something with Sora.

"Yeah, I'm getting them now," Sora concluded after realizing he had a fun time with Kairi.

"Wait! Sora you see the prices right?" Kairi tried to stop him.

"Yeah," Sora stated as though nothing was wrong, "You want me to get you one to?" he stated with his usual cheery tone.

"No don't get me one!" Kairi cried out.

"What's wrong?" Sora questioned.

"How can you even afford one of these?" Kairi asked him.

"I got a lot of money," Sora said.

"W- from where?" Kairi questioned.

"I collected a lot of things on my three big adventures… well four if you count the one Naminé made me forget but she and King Mickey took all my valuables and money I collected on my adventures for me and put it in a bank back on the Kings World," Sora explained.

"They did?" Kairi was surprised, she never heard anything like this happening, "… how much do you have?" she questioned.

"I haven't checked in a while let me see," Sora took out his phone and pressed an app and pressed a few more keys, "About… that much," he said showing her his phone.

* * *

"HOW!" Selphie yelled at Kairi when she saw the brand new Play Plus Sora had gotten her which he himself had attached to her TV, "YOU were supposed to get him something not the other way around, what happened?" Selphie said as though she were scolding Kairi.

"Sora is… rich," Kairi felt ashamed for admitting.

"What? No he's not," Selphie said.

"He collected a lot of treasure on his adventures and his friends put it all together in a bank, which was apparently a massive amount," Kairi told her.

"What? Wait how much?" Selphie asked.

"Over 15 million Munny!" Kairi said.

"WHAT!?" Selphie's jaw dropped and she almost fell to the floor from her legs giving out, "HOW!?"

"Apparently he found a lot of Munny on his adventures, and sometimes the enemies he defeated had precious gems and metals which were also worth a lot of Munny. He could buy the property to our childhood island build a home and probably live comfortably for the rest of his life," Kairi said.

"Why the hell is he still in school?" Selphie questioned.

"I don't know," Kairi felt tired from the information she had been given.

"And did you really need to take advantage of him by getting him to buy you something!?" Selphie questioned.

"I didn't!" Kairi defended, "He just surprised me, said he wanted to have more fun with me!"

"Oh my light! Why is he so perfect!?" Selphie brought down her hands over her face like she was trying to peel it, "Why haven't you screwed him already? Hell I'll do it for you."

"NO!" Kairi glared at her with an annoyed blush.

"Wait, you haven't told anyone else about his wealth right?" Selphie asked suddenly concerned.

"No," Kairi answered.

"Good! Keep it that way, I guarantee you that plenty of other girls at our school will try and take full advantage of him and you know how nice Sora is," Selphie said.

"Oh light you're right," Kairi was sounding just as worried.

"You're gonna have a serious talk with Sora about finances later, and not to give his money away to fake charities. There are no dolphins dying on our island we don't hunt them for food!" Selphie reminded her.

"I know I know," Kairi said.

"Okay so with that out of the way what's left that you can do for him?" Selphie asked.

"I-I don't know… he's just… Sora is uncomplicated he's just simple," Kairi said.

"… He wants to have fun right?" Selphie questioned.

"Selphie no!" Kairi told her.

"Actual recreational fun," Selphie said, "You're gonna go out there with Sora and be the fun girl."

"How… is that different from now?" Kairi questioned.

"You're not going to think or question things as they happen, just don't think, do!" Selphie told her.

"And that will make Sora happy?" Kairi questioned.

"Yes! Guys like a girl who isn't complicated and just goes with the flow," Selphie told her.

"… actually yeah I see the process," Kairi said, "Okay so… just no thinking just do what he wants I can do that," Kairi said.

* * *

Another ending to the day, school had ended once age and Sora and Kairi both leaving together.

"So… what do you want to do? Is there a world you've been wanting to re-visit?" Kairi asked him.

"You want to world travel? Again? You sure?" Sora asked her.

"Yeah come on where do you want to go?" Kairi answered quickly for him.

"Well I guess there's one place I want to go to but I don't-." "I'm in, let's go," Kairi answered before Sora could speak.

"But I haven't-." "Don't worry, let's do it, let's go right now," Kairi finished for him again.

"Well… okay yeah let's go," Sora agreed going from confused to happy.

"Great, what did I agree to?" Kairi asked.

* * *

" _AHHHHHHH_ -!"

Kairi screamed for life as she and Sora slid down the mountain on one of Goofy's spare shields. The two of them arrived at the top of the highest mountain of Arendelle and Sora was happy to snowboard down the entire mountain through the trees and caves and even happier when Kairi said she wanted to do it as well.

"Everything okay!" Sora yelled out focusing on the path ahead of them.

"FINE I'M LOVING THIS!" Kairi cried out with fear and terror holding on to Sora as tightly as she could.

"Okay! Here comes the jump!" Sora called out.

Kairi was able to open her eyes just enough to see the two of them approaching a massive cliffside drop.

"NONONONONO!" Kairi cried stomping on the back of the shield desperately trying to get it to stop. Her suddenly weight caused the sled to start skidding leaving behind a cloud of snow.

"Wait! Kairi! Stop! We need more speed! Kairi! Kairi! KAIRI!" Sora called out as they approached the cliff. Kairi failed to stop their ride and the two of them were sent flying off a cliff into a small pile of snow at the bottom.

* _CRASH_ *

* * *

" _Achoo_!" Kairi sneezed.

After crashing into the snow Kairi began to feel ill while Sora seemed to be perfectly fine after being buried in several feet of snow possibly from building up a tolerance again. Sora carried her back to the ship and brought her home where she immediately went to bed and started sneezing and blowing her nose.

"Sooo… maybe that was a bad idea," Selphie said visiting the sick girl, "And why are you still sick? Don't you know healing magic?"

"Thatzz only for suplurfifsial wounds colds are a bit trickier _*sniff_ *," Kairi tried to communicate through her stuffy nose, "Sora fid a Regen spfell fer me I'll be beffer in fa morning."

"I don't know what half that stuff means but good," Selphie said.

* _Knock knock_ * A knock at the door was heard and Sora allowed himself into Kairi's room.

"Hey how you doing?" Sora asked, "Oh Selphie should you be here?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Selphie sounded offended.

"So you don't get sick?" Sora said.

"Just do a spell on me like you did for Kairi," Selphie told him, "What do you have?" she asked looking at the thermos and pillow.

"Oh I made Kairi some soup," Sora said giving Kairi the thermos, "And I got you a new pillow," he said placing it behind her head.

"…thankf you," Kairi said weak and ashamed that once again Sora was doing something for her.

"Okay out!" Selphie commanded.

"What? Wait why do-?" "OUT!" Selphie yelled suddenly shoving Sora out the door.

"Uh okay I'll see you tomo-." * _SLAM_ * Selphie slammed the door shut before Sora could tell her anything else, Selphie waited for Sora's steps to quiet before she gave Kairi a disappointed glare.

"Okay so obviously you both can't do things without thinking," Selphie said disappointed.

"Vell? Vhat should I do for him now?" Kairi asked.

"I don't know," Selphie said, "There's nothing left that you're willing to do, well you know short of cleaning his room."

"… I mean, if he really needad the helf-." "NO!" Selphie yelled, "I will not allow you to sink that low even for him."

"Doh fer-," Kairi took a tissue from the side giving it a hard blow * _SSNNNRRRRKK_ * Selphie cringed in disgust as she stared at her friend clearing her nose and tossing the tissue in the nearby trash, "So you don't want me to clean his room but your way is much more noble and respectable?" she asked.

"You're not whoring yourself out to some random stranger it's to a guy who I'm positive would and has died for you," Selphie said.

"Can we not talk about this!?" Kairi blushed at her, "And what's with your obsession with me and Sora."

"I live vicariously through you alright!" Selphie seemed to cry, "You have a world traveling hero by your side and magic adventures I have nothing I'm stuck on a rock surrounded by water with a bunch of assholes to pick!"

"… Did you want to talk about it?" Kairi asked worried for new reasons.

"No no just… forget it," Selphie felt ashamed from what she admitted, "I shouldn't be telling you how to do your job just… take your time, wait as long as you have to."

"… yeah… wait," Kairi repeated, she recalled Elizabeths words as well as her story on how she lost the man she loved after waiting for so long.

Her story had stung Kairi a lot more than she'd like to admit she could relate to what she had gone through. The first time she lost Sora and waited for him to come back had been agony, and after he had returned they had gotten that message from the King meaning she would have to wait even longer. Even after training for so long Sora's skills had left her in the dust as she once again needed to be rescued.

It made her feel useless.

"… let's do it," Kairi said determined.

"Do what- _gasp_ we're doing my plan!" Selphie was suddenly excited.

"Yes," Kairi said.

"We're gonna get you laid!?" Selphie asked excited.

"You don't- don't say that," Kairi felt embarrassed from the statement.

"You and Sora are gonna fuck!?" Selphie asked with the same excitement.

"STOP-! Go back to saying the other thing!" Kairi ordered even more embarrassed.

"We're gonna get you laid!?" Selphie asked excited.

"You don't need to say it a second time!" Kairi told her.

"So… how do you want to do this?" Selphie asked her.

"What… what do you mean?" Kairi questioned worried again.

"It'll be you and Sora coming together for the very first time, how have you imagined your first time with him?" Selphie acted like she was interrogating her.

"Uhhhh… I've never thought about it," Kairi admitted.

"Oh come on! Every girl has envisioned how their first time should be," Selphie told her.

"Well I haven't… how did you imagine your first time?" Kairi asked.

"Nothing fictional," Selphie said, "First I'd take two young guys and force them to strip naked before making them-." "I DON'T WANT TO KNOW! I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!" Kairi waved her hands trying to signal Selphie to stop, "And THAT'S what you want for your first time?"

"As I said nothing fictional, that's the best part of the imagination you can imagine whatever you want," Selphie told her, "So… where are you imagining 'thanking' Sora for all he's ever done for you?"

The way Selphie worded it made Kairi feel a bit better, after everything Sora had done she did feel as though she didn't do enough and her attempts to try and do something nice for Sora had all failed miserably.

"Our island," Kairi stated.

"Oooh, in public."

"On the hidden side preferably in a tent at night!" Kairi stated.

"Oh… less fun… but romantic!" Selphie said, "What are you going to wear?"

"Does it matter?" Kairi asked.

"Yes it matters! You're too shy to say anything and Sora's too dumb to get any hints, we need to make what you want as obvious as possible so that even Sora will take the bait and you can trap him for yourself!"

"Uhh… we're talking about intimate things right?" Kairi questioned.

"I know exactly what to get you!" Selphie concluded with a raised finger.

* * *

"You want to go camping?" Sora asked, once again the school day had ended and Sora was out with Kairi right next to him as usual. She quickly told him what she wanted to do telling him what she wanted.

"Well it's been a long time since we did anything like that," Kairi said trying to be nostalgic, "I thought it would be nice to spend some time outdoors just like we used to."

"It has been a long time, those were fun days. Oh but this time we won't have Riku," Sora realized, "You know what I'll give him a call and see if he's free," he pulled out his phone.

"Oh UH- He's not free!" Kairi quickly placed a hand on his phone stopping Sora from calling anyone, "He's… busy with his teachings, he and Lea are really busy can't come over."

"Are you sure? I thought he had time to himself, let me just check-." "I already checked!" Kairi quickly interrupted him, "Let's go already! I'll get the tent and you get the food… get something healthy I'm not having smores for dinner again."

"We can still have smores right?" Sora asked.

"Can't you cook amazing deserts now?" Kairi questioned.

"Yeah, but I still like Smores," Sora said.

"Okay then go ahead," Kairi said.

* * *

The day was relaxing, aside from her mental countdown to what felt like an impending doom Kairi enjoyed her relaxing time. Long before the worlds were thrown into darkness the three friends would sometimes camp out together, it was a much more simpler time. Kairi felt as though she could relive those simple times even if it was just her and her boyfriend.

"You know they'd taste a lot better if you roasted them instead of letting them catch on fire," Kairi said watching Sora allow another marshmallow to catch on fire.

"Too long," Sora commented blowing out his blackened marshmallow, ignoring the black ashes that came with it he stuffed it in his graham cracker and chocolate bar and stuffing it in his mouth.

" _ugh_ you're always gonna be a messy eater," Kairi watched as marshmallow fluff seeped out of the corners of Sora's mouth.

" _Ifph's moot na froplem_ ," Sora commented with his mouth full, taking a painful swallow he licked the leftovers off his fingers "So what do you want to do now?"

"I'm… going to get ready for bed," Kairi told him.

"Huh? Oh I didn't even notice the light going down," Sora said noticing the sky start to glow orange, "Why did you want to camp on this side? We can't see the sunset here," he said as the shadow of the island started to cover them.

"I just… thought it would be nice to… try a new spot," Kairi felt a bit shaky with her explanation, "I'm gonna change you go brush your teeth, really brush them."

"Alrigh-t then?"

Before Sora answered back Kairi had already shut the tent flap, waiting for Sora to leave for the fresh water river. Kairi took a look at the pack she had brought with her and saw the 'pajamas' Selphie had told her to buy.

"Okay… okay I can do this… Sora's died for me and possibly others multiple times if those stories Riku told me were true, he's traveled and fought for his life too many times for one person and… he had to watch people die that's… not something anyone should go through this early in life," Kairi spoke to herself trying to psych herself, "It'll feel nice, it's… it's Sora he'll make it nice, Selphie's right this was something that was always going to happen between us it and Elizabeth said I shouldn't waste my time with him… I also feel like Selphie is manipulating me a bit but she's right I need to do something great for Sora and this is all I have left that I can do for him," she pep talked herself.

Kairi took a look in the bag.

"Or… cleaning his room would be just- no NO! That would be pointless," Kairi felt the sweat drip down her face from nervousness, " _exhale_ here we go."

* * *

Sora arrived back holding a cup and toothbrush. Arriving back he expected Kairi to have met him on the way but she was still inside the tent. He could hear her breathing heavily as though she was in pain.

"Kairi? You okay?" Sora asked from the other side of the tent flap.

"FiNe!" Kairi sounding like she was chocking.

"You sure? Can I come in-?" Sora raised a hand to the zipper flap.

"NO!" Kairi seemed to shriek.

"O-Okay!" Sora reeled back his hand.

"Just… g-give me a second," Kairi told him.

"Alright that's fine," Sora said, "There's nothing wrong right."

"nO! I'm coming out!" Kairi sounded like she was out of breath, " _inhale exhale inhale exhale_."

* _zip_ * Kairi moved the zipper like she was trying to pull a band aid off, the tend door came down and Sora saw Kairi's pajamas and was immediately reminded of their incident.

Kairi was wearing a pink yet incredibly transparent gown, wrapped around her shoulders and reaching mid thigh. Through the material Sora could see a very well fitting pink strapless bra showing a generous amount of clevage as well as a pair of panties clinging very well to her.

Sora couldn't utter a word, he did his best to keep his eyes on Kairi's face who's looked as though she was about to face something scary.

"I-..I-is that what… d-did you forget the rest?" Sora now sounded shaky and nervous with a noticeable blush on his face.

"N-nO! This is it!" Kairi was just as nervous and red as Sora.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I-I'm gonna change to," Sora announced.

"Okay!"

"… can- can I-."

"Oh! R-Right."

Kairi stepped to the side out of the tent out while Sora tried to keep his attention on the tent and only the tent. As soon as he zipped it closed the area was filled with awkward silence.

"… I'll just… be right back!" Kairi called grabbing her own bag with her toiletries.

"Yeah yeah go right ahead!" Sora said.

* * *

"AAAAAAUUUUGH!"

Kairi waited until she was a good distance away before banging her head on the nearest tree. The humiliation and realization that Sora now knew exactly how she looked was nerve wracking but instead of doing anything he just looked away and now the two of them were probably going to be too nervous to talk to each other again. She questioned how Selphie had convinced her, she was two steps away from full nudity and just gave Sora a full eyeful of herself.

"… not giving up," Kairi said to herself, "I'm not going back to avoiding Sora we're doing this," she declared to herself.

Brushing her teeth as thoroughly as possibly in preparation for what may come she also used a few more things to try and make herself look as appealing as possible. Some lotions a bit of perfume, she even resorted to trying to shave her already smooth skin out of worry and nervousness.

"Maybe I should take care of a few more things-?" Kairi spoke to herself again, "Okay no I'm just stalling for time… let's get this over with."

Kairi began the slow walk back to their tent, with a deep and heavy breath she stood right before the closed door flap.

" _We're alone, we're together, he's done too much for you… I'm going to do it_ ," Kairi thought to herself. She gripped the zipper tab and slowly opened the door. Inside the tent was a small lamp and two sleeping bags.

"YES!" Sora pumped his fist in triumph.

Kairi walked in expecting Sora to maybe be hiding from sight but instead she saw him on his phone repeatedly tapping the screen.

"Uh… Sora?" Kairi questioned forgetting her current state of dress.

"K-Kairi!" Sora blushed again seeing her again, "W-What took you so- ho- hold on!" he gave a brief look at her before going back to his phone and repeatedly tapping it again. Kairi could hear what sounded like swords clanging and other sounds similar to the Play Plus.

"What are you doing?" Kairi questioned.

"Ah oh uh um," Sora stuttered focusing on Kairi and going right back to his phone, "Just- Just a game Chip and Dale made, Omni-Plus it's been really addicting."

"Oh… that sounds… fun," Kairi sounded a bit disappointed in her tone.

"Oh did you want a try?" Sora misread her.

"No that's… that's fine," Kairi said taking a seat on the mat next to him.

* * *

(5 Minutes later)

"So… you're just going around to towns and worlds hunting medals?" Kairi questioned leaning in closer to look at Sora's screen.

On his screen was a doll looking person he called and 'Avatar', using his finger Sora was able to move the character towards monsters that reminded her of Heartless.

"Yeah it's kind of addicting, the others play it but they keep getting lucky and getting these rare ones that I keep wanting," Sora said.

"Is it safe to have pictures of people from other worlds out for others to easily see?" Kairi asked.

"They'll never know it's from other worlds… they did have to get a bit of permission from certain people," Sora told her. His avatar walked up to an enemy and a battle phase started, Sora started swiping random medals with images of some of her friends, the fighters she met in Traverse Town, and Sora's own friends. Each swiped medal did a different attack on the monster.

"They put you in the game to?" Kairi asked seeing Sora use a medal with his face on it.

"Yeah but… it's common," Sora said, "If I spent jewels I could probably upgrade it to a rare one but that kind of thing is random its better to get it in combat."

* * *

(10 minutes later)

"What do I do?" Kairi asked as Sora's character came up to a massive enemy.

"Okay swipe that medal up," Sora instructed, "And then other spots are going to pop up, a circle is going to enclose around it press the spots exactly when the circles are the same size."

A bunch of solid spots appeared on the screen with circles closing around them, Kairi struggled at first but she understood how the mechanics worked.

As she was playing an image of a letter popped up suddenly at the bottom right of the screen.

"Wait what's that? Is that bad?" Kairi questioned pointing at the letter.

"Oh that's probably Ventus, he sometimes calls me to do these raids with him," Sora said.

"You can connect with other people?" Kairi questioned.

"Yeah," Sora confirmed.

"… could I?" Kairi asked him.

" _gasp_ , yes Yes you could, where's your phone!?" Sora was now as excited as a child getting candy.

* * *

(15 Minutes later)

"So… I can make her look any way I want?" Kairi asked looking at the create avatar screen. After downloading the app Omni-Plus she immediately launched it.

"Yeah, well there's not much for now you can just make her body any shape you want. There's a bunch of costumes you can get playing the game to make your avatar different," Sora said.

"Alright let me just enter my name," Kairi began typing her name in the 'Username' section.

"No don't use your name, use a made up name its fun," Sora said.

"Made up? What's your user name?" Kairi asked.

"KeybaldeMater," Sora stated annoyed.

"Matter? Do you mean Keyblade Master?" Kairi asked.

"Ventus already got that name and I can't have it too I think it's a computer thing," Sora said.

"I'll just go with Kairi," Kairi said, "Alright… it's doing something."

"Oh that's a booster pack of medals, you get one to start out with," Sora was excited and leaned in close to Kairi to see what she would get.

A small scroll with a wax seal appeared prompting Kairi to touch it, when she pressed her phone the scroll on the screen opened up. An image of a heavenly light appeared before two rows of five medals appeared on her screen.

"Oh… these look cute," Kairi commented, there were some familiar ones. She saw Yuffie, Pluto, and even Xion.

"Wha-NO!" Sora cried out annoyed.

"What's wrong?"

"Look!" Sora pointed to the last medal she got that showed an image of Sora in a throne with a small crown looking smug, "That's me! That's the one I always wanted! A legendary rare!"

"Oh!" Kairi felt excited to have something he didn't have, "Well I think it's fitting that I have the best Sora medal… wait is there one of me?"

"They didn't ask?" Sora questioned, Kairi shook her head no, "Well maybe I'll ask Chip and Dale to put you in and I'll get your medal," he tried to taunt.

"I would like to get in that sounds neat," Kairi said, "Why are you in a throne with a crown? You're not royalty."

"I think it was supposed to be a joke about me ruling Kingdom Hearts," Sora said, a few messages popped up on his phone, "Oh hey everyone's calling now. Lea's in, so is Ventus and Naminé."

"Naminé plays this?" Kairi questioned.

"She said she needs something fun during all her studying," Sora said.

"Can we talk to each other?" Kairi asked looking at her phone.

"Sure you see the world button at the top? Press that and then press on 'Gathering Hub' I'll send you an invite to the rest of us," Sora said.

* * *

(1 hour later)

Kairi enjoyed being able to do something with so many of her friends. She joined a game clan with Sora and all their friends, despite her low level they brought her on what they called a raid to take down a massive heartless monster. She felt proud at first but after the fight the game said she did. 0.03 percent of the total damage. Kairi grumbled but Sora laughed a bit, the experience points she gained in the fight though boosted her dozens of levels.

" _Yawn_ ," Sora yawned, "Alright that's it for me," he typed in a message to his friends.

**KeybladeMaster flame: Yeah me to, gnight.**

**Keyblade Master: Me too going to bed.**

**Namine: I'll be on tomorrow.**

Kairi texted a few things as well to their friends, "That was fun… I mean not as fun as actually doing things with the others but it's nice to know that we can still do things together even worlds apart… maybe we should get everyone to play this," Kairi said turning off her phone.

"…"

"Sora- oh," Kairi saw that Sora had instantly fell asleep right on top of his sleeping bag sprawled out messily.

"Good night So-," Kairi looked down at herself remembering that she was wearing the most revealing thing she had ever worn in life.

" _sigh_ Selphie's going to hate me for this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Okay one more chapter before something happens. For those of you who didn't know that was a parody of Kingdom Hearts Union Cross at the end. Be sure to review and comment and tell me what mistakes I made.


	14. A Lesson Learned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Sorry for this one being late but I was busy attending Comic-Con. Finally feel like I got a good amount of reviews so we're going to get close to the good stuff just need to etch in a few things. Here's Riku and Naminé's chapter.

Riku did another trek around Radiant Garden once again checking for Heartless which once again turned up as pointless as the last dozen times. Terra wasn't going to come for training for a while to help Aqua with a problem she had been having and Lea was getting ready for his trip with Scrooge. Riku found himself alone with nothing to do and no one to spend time with. Usually he'd spend it with Naminé during her down time but after her post on Kingdom Hearts she seemed to rarely want to leave the castle.

"… I think I got dumped," Riku said to himself.

* * *

Riku took a small walk around the town, the place almost looked fully rebuilt compared to the time he had first arrived to the world long ago. Walking through the shops Riku tried to think of anything he could need or wanted but nothing came to mind. He was stocked on food and clothes and he found himself never really wanting to waste money on non essentials.

As he walked through the town a few of the people greeted him out of respect. While word of the Keyblades knowledge was still scarce there was the knowledge of a strong warrior who had abilities specifically for the Heartless that gave the people a sense of hope. Riku felt bad to be the hope these people had considering he played a big part of the world falling to darkness.

"Master Riku kupo!" the nearby Moogle shop owner approached him.

"Oh, hello again Mog," Riku said a bit unenthusiastically.

"Anything happening around the town? Do you need some more armor accessories? Shall I upgrade your weapon kapok?" Mog the Moogle asked.

"No I'm doing fine," Riku told him.

"Ohh," Mog drooped in disappointment, "You keep this place too safe, not to complain but since you do most of the fighting nobody needs weapons or armor anymore," he said.

"The Restoration committee still needs weapons and armor don't they?" Riku asked.

"Yes but not enough… _sigh_ I'll need to do something else with my business or I'll have to move to a new world kupo," Mog said, "The only thing people ask for is a weapon like yours and that impossible to make for just anybody even if the materials weren't impossible to find."

"You could forge other things couldn't you? Maybe some hardware supplies for building that would be really helpful to the townspeople," Riku suggested.

"They would be useful but hammers and saws aren't very good weapons against enemies," Mog said.

"That's… not the point," Riku questioned the logic.

"Well, I've got some stuff to work on to try and drum up sales. Have you found any good materials lately?" Mog asked.

"No the Heartless aren't as aggressive today," Riku said.

" _sigh_ , of course," Mog said depressed.

* * *

Naminé looked over the notes she had taken earlier, adding a camera to what looked like some mechanical doll she then began typing a few things on the computer.

"I still don't see why you need make this," Even stated looking over Naminé's project.

"I think we can't make a heart with just simulations alone," Naminé said, "The robot I met had real experiences with people who cared about him with real memories and experiences. I don't think simulations of fake events with a fake heart will work without consequences, but maybe with this we can make a real heart."

"Make a heart?" Even questioned.

"Or… give it a heart… I don't know how it happened but I'm hoping that this way I can recreate whatever events that made Baymax have a heart on this things own," Naminé said.

"Well there's certainly no shortage of A.I instructions here," Even said, "But are you certain this will work? Baymax is just one example of a machine gaining a heart it shouldn't be treated as a certainty."

"Even though it's just a theory I have to try," Naminé said pressing a few more buttons, " _Yawn_ , I think I need a bit more coffee," Naminé said feeling tired.

A Dusk nearby saluted and floated away out of the lab.

"Why do they keep listening to her?" Even questioned watching the Dusk leave.

"Perhaps you should just take a break," Ienzo told Naminé, "You've been working extra hours for a while now you should go out and get some air."

"I'm… fine here," Naminé seemed to concentrate harder on her computer.

"You haven't been out of the castle for days now I feel as though you're trying to avoid something," Ienzo said.

"She doesn't want to meet with Riku because she's embarrassed," Even just announced.

"Wha- NO!" Naminé stopped and blushed a bit, "… but… what makes you think that?"

"You rushed in here as soon as you returned from your date," Even stated.

"It wasn't a date!"

"The Dusk were clearly worried about you."

"T-They always worry about me!"

"You immediately deleted your post about your first date."

"It wasn't a date!" Naminé exclaimed again.

"Well ever since then you've been focusing on your work non stop I have to ask the Dusk to go get me my SeaSalt and half the time they forget how money works and steal it or the person who sells it," Even said.

"We've had to pay off so many witnesses," Ienzo added.

"It's not… I-I don't need to go outside," Naminé argued.

"Yes you do, I've met other temp workers who tried to do everything to impress us and almost died from exhaustion," Ienzo said, "You know we don't have a rule on dating right?"

" _Wha_ why-? That's not the issue!" Naminé softly yelled.

"Really? I always thought you two did well together, always spending your time with each other," Ienzo said, "You know it wouldn't be a problem you two are responsible enough to not let each other interfere with your jobs."

"Again! Not the issue!" Naminé blushed, "Even please tell Ienzo this isn't the place for relationships."

"Oh no I would actually be ecstatic if the two of you started a relationship," Even said.

"You would…?" Ienzo questioned.

"You would?" Naminé questioned.

"Oh certainly not for gossip reasons of course, I would love a chance to see how my Replicas hold up in a relationship. I worked tirelessly to get the nervous systems on the bodies right but I never got a chance to study all the feelings of a Replicas sensory nerves. One I would like to see is if they reacts properly to stimulation and intercourse."

"Wha-D-What!?" Naminé almost screamed and looked down are her Replica body.

"And while the parts are there it was far more impossible for me to test before, I would like to see what happens when a living Replica is impregnated as well as the after effects."

"WAIT WHAT!?" Naminé screamed turning deep scarlet.

"Oh of course I'm not telling you to do that," Even said to Naminé, "But if it were to happen I'd certainly like to know."

"You know what!" Naminé gathered all the items she could in her arms, "I think I'm going to go work in my room," she said heading out the door.

"Naminé! Wait- _sigh_ ," Ienzo tried to call her back but she slammed the door, he then gave Even an angry glare.

"What? I said I wasn't asking her to do all that," Even argued.

* * *

"So… how's things going for you?" Riku asked his phone.

" _It's been… strange_ ," Sora said on the other side.

After walking around town Riku settled at a random bench in an area that was out of sight of the people and gave Sora a call out of boredom.

" _Kairi's been wanting to spend more time with me all the time_ ," Sora said.

"Is she bothering you?" Riku questioned.

" _Oh definitely not, it's been fun to spend more time with her_ ," Sora said, " _What about you? How's things going back on Radiant Garden?_ "

"Well Aqua's dealing with something so Terra's been forced to take some time off and Lea's going to be working with Roxas and Xion as his personal guards so I haven't been busy for a while," Riku said.

" _You're not busy?_ " Sora questioned, " _That's… odd_."

"What?" Riku asked.

" _Nothing nothing,"_ Sora said, " _So… how's Naminé_? _And how was the city? Sorry that they attacked you._ "

"It was interesting, odd to see that you were right about a robot having a heart… by the way have you been telling people about Magic and Keyblades?" Riku asked.

" _Oh… uh… a little_ ," Sora admitted.

"Sora!" Riku yelled, "We're supposed to keep those kinds of secrets in check."

" _They're really smart they would have figured out something, and they're science people can they even figure out magic with science?"_ Sora asked.

"If you plan to travel then you need to look over the rules for keeping the World Order, we can have a really bad effect on other worlds if we let secrets out," Riku said.

" _Fine fine, I'll look it over again_ ," Sora said reluctantly annoyed.

"See that you do, remember Keyweilders have also brought ruin before it wouldn't do any good to accidentally ruin a world," Riku said.

" _I won't I won't_ ," Sora said, " _So… how are things on Radiant Garden going? Still having Heartless problems_?"

"They're pretty thin, they still appear near the border from time to time but it takes something big to get them to appear in town, like a fake heart," Riku said.

" _Naminé's still working on that_ ," Sora commented, " _Are the two of you also dating_?"

"Wha- no," Riku corrected him quickly.

" _Oh… kind of disappointing_ ," Sora said.

"We're just friends," Riku told him.

" _Yeah so are me and Kairi, we make it work… I think_ ," Sora said.

"Why do you care?" Riku asked annoyed.

" _I think you should have someone to_. _You sure you and Naminé can't date? She seemed pretty excited at the idea when she made that post_ ," Sora said.

"It's not- she didn't mean to call it a date," Riku said.

" _So you two didn't do anything date like in the city_?" Sora asked him.

"Stop asking- I mean yeah I got her a gift and we ate- stop pressing this. Me and Naminé would be too weird," Riku felt like shouting at Sora.

" _Fine fine_ ," Sora relented, " _You're never gonna find anyone if you're that against it._ "

"I don't need anyone," Riku said frustrated.

" _Sure you do… what about Yuffie_?" Sora asked.

"I barely know her, and she keeps making these uncomfortable jokes around me," Riku argued.

" _Any of the girls back in San Fransokyo catch your eye?_ " Sora asked.

"SORA!" Riku yelled angrily.

" _I still think Naminé would be nice for you_ ," Sora said.

"I'M NOT-! It wouldn't be right okay I'd feel like I'd only be with her because she looks like Kair-."

"… _what_?" Sora stared at his phone in confusion and thought.

" _He's an idiot he won't figure it out_ ," Riku thought holding in his slight panic.

"… _did you like Kairi_?" Sora questioned.

"N-NO!" Riku answered quickly.

" _Oh_ …," Sora paused feeling a slight guilt fully aware of the truth now, " _I-I never knew_ -."

"STOP! Just… don't make me go through this," Riku tried to argue.

" _Does she know how you felt_?" Sora asked.

"No and we're not going to talk about this with her!" Riku commanded him.

" _Well… I didn't ruin things for you did I_?" Sora asked.

"NO! Why would you think that," Riku questioned now frustrated at the ridiculous situation he was in.

" _Is there something I can do for you about this_?" Sora asked.

"Something to do- Sora are you 'offering' me your girlfriend!?" Riku questioned him.

" _What? NO! I just-… I don't know what to do or say about this, I never knew you felt that way about Kairi_ ," Sora said.

"Look, it was a long time ago we were kids, every guy had a crush on Kairi before," Riku explained.

" _I didn't_ ," Sora said.

"… seriously?" Riku questioned a bit shocked.

" _Yeah… I mean she was just a best friend I like hanging out with her and you but I never thought about dating her before, I honestly don't know when I fell in love with Kairi I guess it just happened between us_ ," Sora said, " _So… you liked her before_."

"'Before' yes," Riku emphasized.

" _Was that why you bet the Paopu fruit on our race_?" Sora asked.

"Why would you bring that up?" Riku questioned annoyed.

" _I was kind of surprised at the time, and it was the only time I ever beat you_ ," Sora said.

"Yes… I know," Riku said annoyed at his one loss, "It doesn't matter, I don't feel that way about Kairi anymore. Even if I did she chose you a long time ago, and I'm pretty sure I lost any chance with her when I tried to drown the worlds in Darkness... and kill you."

" _That wasn't your fault, and Kairi wouldn't blame you for that_ ," Sora said.

"I know," Riku answered.

" _So… you wouldn't be with Naminé because she reminds you of Kairi_?" Sora asked.

"She… _sigh_ I feel as if I would only want to be with her just because she was a part of Kairi and that wouldn't be fair to her," Riku said.

" _I thought you were over Kairi_ ," Sora said.

"I am but… it's complicated," Riku answered.

" _But Naminé and Kairi are nothing alike, and it seems a bit unfair to Naminé for you to think that_ ," Sora said.

"Yes I know I shouldn't compare her to Kairi, not after everything she went through to be her own person," Riku said.

" _Well that to, but what if she wanted to be with you and you didn't for that reason_?" Sora asked him.

"She doesn't feel that-… you haven't gotten that feeling that would make you think that have you?" Riku asked.

" _What do you mean_?" Sora questioned.

"I-I don't know you seem to have this knack to know what others are suddenly feeling or something. You haven't felt anything like that?" Riku asked.

" _What would I feel_?" Sora asked.

"I don't- you're the one- never mind stop complicating the problem," Riku told him.

" _You're the one making it complicated_."

"I'm done." * _beep_ * Riku quickly hung up before he could say anything else.

"… … damn it why do I keep talking to him? Nothing has to happen between the two of us," Riku questioned, "We're… fine… just spending all this time alone… damn it Sora."

* * *

Naminé messed with a few more screws on her machine in her room before typing in more code. After trading a few notes with Hiro and looking over Tron's programming she was able to get a general idea on how to make a thinking AI. The coding alone though would take a while to hopefully get the desired results but she had time.

* _Knock Knock_ *

"Guys I keep telling you I'm fine," Naminé said still focusing on her work.

"Uh hi," Riku waved.

"R-RIKU!" * _CLATTER_ * Naminé quickly stood up from her desk making a mess of small parts and tools, "What- how- why- reason- here?"

" _Um_ … I wanted to see you, and you've been… in this castle for a while now," Riku was now worried.

"Well I've been really busy- wait Even didn't send you in here did he?" Naminé felt worried.

"Uh no?" Riku answered confused.

"Oh thank goodness," Naminé sighed with relief.

"Look I don't want to go through what Sora was going through so… can we talk?" Riku asked.

"I-I… I'm a little busy right-."

"You are absolutely able to make some time," Riku told her.

"Maybe could we talk about this when-."

"Naminé," Riku said, "Can we talk about the tag you left?"

"… fine," Naminé relented sitting back at her desk.

".. soooo…," Riku started, "What was exactly so bad about… us?"

"What?"

"Maybe not the best start," Riku immediately regretted his first words, "What was so bad about what you did? I feel like that wasn't worth turning into a hermit."

"It… it wasn't you, it was me," Naminé admitted, "It was… weird for me okay, I didn't-… honestly I don't know what I'm supposed to think this is the first time I've been in some kind of relationship."

"Uhhhhh?"

"Platonic! A-A platonic relationship," Naminé quickly corrected.

"Right! Obviously!" Riku agreed.

"I-… it's probably not that complicated but it is too me, and after I made that post a bunch of my other friends started talking about it," Naminé said.

"Wait who else saw that?" Riku asked.

"Xion, Olette, Sora, and Kairi maybe a few others," Naminé admitted, "after that they were all expecting me and you to… it was just too much of a change and I was a lot happier with how things were now."

"Oh... well I get it, I wasn't expecting anything to change either," Riku said.

"…oh… really?" Naminé seemed to relax.

"Well… yeah, wait did you think I wanted things to change?" Riku asked.

"...Buying me a dress may have sent me a few mixed signals," Naminé said.

"Are you ever going to wear that? I did like the way it look-."

"Okay 'that' right there is what's making me wonder about…. Us," Naminé said.

"Alright point taken," Riku said, "but were you really afraid of the possibility of change that much? Because I'm sure anyone who has a Keyblade can tell you that you shouldn't try to prevent or outright reject change."

"I've literally just started my life," Naminé said, "and as a scientist in training I know more than most that change is inevitable but I'm not ready yet."

"But someday you might be ready?"

"Riku, again, mixed signals!"

"Alright alright I'll just be clear about this," Riku started, "I get it you're not that ready for any kind of relationship, I'm not either and I honestly think we were doing just fine as friends. And Sora has recently reminded me of the last time I tried to start a relationship with someone so I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for anything like that either."

"… alright…"

"Alright… so we don't need to do anything and make whatever this thing is last, and turn it into something as stupid as what Sora and Kairi no doubt went through?" Riku asked her.

"You're… still making it sound like we're getting together but yes I understand," Naminé said.

"Right."

"Okay."

"Good."

"Yes."

".. … …"

"Wanna leave and get some ice cream?" Riku asked.

"… yes."

* * *

Naminé let out a relaxed sigh sitting on their usual bench unwrapping her ice cream bar. Riku took a familiar seat next to her.

"So what are you building now?" Riku asked.

"I'm trying to recreate the events that gave Baymax and possibly Tron a heart," Naminé said.

"So now you're doing robotics?" Riku asked.

"And Artificial Inteligence," Naminé said.

"This seems like a lot of work to get a training dummy for your powers," Riku said.

"It is, a lot of people don't know this but you would not believe how long experiments and research can take. I've got a year on this personal project before I move on to a different idea," Naminé said.

"A year?" Riku questioned.

"You should see how long some of Ansem's and Even's experiments took. Some of them took over a decade before getting any results," Naminé said.

"What if you tried experimenting on… maybe a really bad person who deserves it?" Riku asked.

"Ignoring all the ethical problems we don't really have any villains here, plus you and Sora never seem to imprison anybody," Naminé said.

"I think crime was a bit outside our jurisdiction," Riku said, "… I'm starting to realize how many crimes we may have committed ourselves."

"It was all for the better," Naminé said, "I missed this, I really have been working too much… where's Lea and Terra?"

"Terra is helping Aqua deal with some things and Lea is protecting a friend of Donald's named Scrooge McDuck with Roxas," Riku said.

"The guy who owns all the Ice Cream shops here?" Naminé asked.

"uh… is he?" Riku questioned.

"Yeah look," Naminé held up the ice cream wrapper and on the corner of the small wrapper was a 'McDuck Enterprises' logo and a small picture of a duck with a top hat.

"… There's a good chance it might be," Riku realized.

"Oh, well they'll be protecting someone very important. He's without a doubt the richest person in every known world," Naminé said.

"Is he really that rich?" Riku asked.

"He keeps his exact wealth amount secret but he's estimated to have a net worth of around three hundered… quadrillion munny," Naminé said.

"W-What?" Riku nearly chocked when he heard the amount, "Jeeze I should have charged him to loan Lea."

"Shouldn't Lea be getting paid if he's doing the work?" Naminé asked.

"He could pay us both if he's got that much money," Riku said.

* * *

Naminé returned to her room after a relaxing time with Riku feeling well enough to get back to work.

"Okay so… this part goes here?" Naminé asked her phone looking over her computer.

" _Yeah the thoughts of actions have to come before the actions but first it needs to add the memory before the action_ ," Hiro said.

" _Ugh_ coding is exhausting," Naminé said.

" _So how's this project coming along? You really think you can make a second little Baymax_? _Cause I've tried a similar feat it isn't easy_ ," Hiro said.

"I need to make my own," Naminé said, "I'm assuming just making a copy of Baymax won't achieve a similar Baymax."

" _No, it just give's an even more robotic and emotionless Baymax. I'm sure that's not what you're aiming for_ ," Hiro said.

"No," Naminé said.

" _So you've been learning anything new_?" Hiro asked her.

"Oh… well uh I've been looking over some body reconstruction from one of my teachers," Naminé lied.

" _Wait body reconstruction? Like are you putting a body together_ ," Hiro asked.

"… essentially," Naminé said.

" _Like what are you able to do? If I lost an arm could you use something to replace it? Directly to the nerves with no neural link_?" Hiro asked her.

"Y-Yes," Naminé lied once again, "My own body is pretty much a result of one of my teachers research."

" _Just one of them, wait your whole body? Were you sick growing up_?" Hiro questioned.

"… yes," Naminé lied.

" _But you looked completely fine… maybe a bit pale but I definitely saw you bleeding like you had regular skin. How much of you is machine_?" Hiro asked.

"That's…. a bit personal," Naminé said.

" _Oh sorry_ ," Hiro said, " _But seriously I couldn't even tell, Tadashi would have loved to see this kind of medical technology. Any chance I could talk to your teacher_."

"He's a bit… reclusive to give out any info on his work," Naminé said.

" _Then can I come and meet him_?" Hiro asked.

"Our… location is a secret," Naminé answered.

" _Oh come on work with me_ ," Hiro asked.

"I… could probably ask him to volunteer to give a seminar," Naminé asked.

" _That would be awesome, I just have to know how you can make a machine take so many nerves and signals directly,_ " Hiro said, " _… so you live in hiding?_ "

"Oh well not hiding the people I work with tend to keep to themselves and prefer to avoid having their technology abused by others," Naminé said.

" _Yeah, I can relate to that_ ," Hiro said, " _Ooh did you want to work at a regular school_?"

"Me?" Naminé asked, "I mean… I suppose I do wonder about it from time to time."

" _Oh oh you should come over to San Fran Tech_ ," Hiro told her.

"You mean your school?" Naminé questioned.

" _Yeah your memory tech and body reconstruction ideas they would do well here, and you'd have everything you'd need to work here. Plus I'm still really interested in all of that Magic tech we've seen_ , _and Fred would really like you to make him forget a movie ending he won't stop bugging me about you,_ " Hiro said.

"It sounds fun but I don't know if your school would accept someone who hasn't even been to a regular school or has any accredited degrees," Naminé said.

" _No but you're clearly smart and that might be enough, you could show off something at the Student Showcase_ ," Hiro told her.

"A showcase?"

" _Every year the school has a student showcase it's how I got accepted in, if you build or invent something really amazing you'll be accepted into the school_ ," Hiro told her.

"Well… I'm not sure I'm really suitable for school I'm not really used to working in large groups yet," Naminé said.

" _Well think about it, here I'll send you a link_ ," Hiro pressed a few buttons off screen, " _Just think about it, you could really help people, it might speed up your Heartless cure if you learned more_."

"Well… I'll think about it," Naminé said.

* * *

"Seems to be going well," Even said looking some of the homework Naminé had completed, "Glad to see that you're finally better."

"Was I giving wrong answers?" Naminé asked.

"No it was perfect work as usual, but you were more gloomy," Even said, "So this whole thing with Riku is done now?"

"Yes yes we've spoken to each other," Naminé said.

"… … anything happening between you two?" Even asked hopeful.

"We're just friends, we've made that clear to each other," Naminé said.

"Are you certain you don't want to try anything with Riku?" Even asked.

"You don't talk to a lot of women do you?" Naminé asked annoyed.

"Wh- y- yes I do," Even defended.

"Larxene absolutely does not count," Ienzo added.

"I've talked to more than her," Even defended.

"… how goes your personal project Naminé?" Ienzo asked.

"I few things were held back, I had to ask Hiro for a bit of help," Naminé said.

"He doesn't know anything about our worlds?" Ienzo asked.

"No I lied," Naminé said.

"Good good," Ienzo said.

"I also said I would ask Even if he'd be willing to give a short seminar on body reconstruction," Naminé said.

"Me… I've never actually considered teaching before," Even said.

"… _ahem_ ," Naminé motioned.

"You don't count as a student you're actually smart and get work done, you should have seen the students I was forced to work with," Even said, "Well I'd have to lie about a few things but I could probably teach a few of my Replica building methods."

"Really? Wow, I was so sure you'd say no," Naminé said.

"Well I could use some time off all I have to do is tell few dull's some things," Even said, "Where would this be?"

"Uh… oh I have the info here," Naminé pulled out her tablet opened the link Hiro gave her showing a digital brochure of San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.

"Hmm," Even took a look at the school, "This is… actually a lot nicer than I thought it would be, obviously they exaggerate a few things when advertising but it still looks nice."

"Oh they have their own robotics lab," Ienzo said looking over, "With a lot of tools for students to use, oh wow there's a few things here that would make our job easier."

"Some of these materials are expensive and they just let students have them," Even stated, "Well… I suppose I would like to see this school for myself now it actually sounds like it would be fun."

"I think I'd like to look around as well," Ienzo said.

"You really like it?" Naminé asked surprised.

"Compared to where I learned, my old school was cheap and still cost me a fortune. I could compare the computers to calculators," Even said.

"I didn't enjoy my school either," Ienzo said.

"Master Ansem and I taught you," Even said.

"You weren't that much fun before," Ienzo said.

"It wasn't supposed to be about fun, ungrateful brat," Even said.

"But it does look like a nice school, I wish I could have learned there," Ienzo said.

"Oh… Hiro may have offered me a chance to go," Naminé said.

"Really?" Even asked.

"But that's not really possible for me," Naminé said.

"Why not?" Ienzo asked.

"Yes world immigration is completely possible for you," Even said.

"What? But then I'd be leaving you two," Naminé said.

"It's no loss to us," Even said, "In fact we'd have a lot more time to take care of our own things if you were attending an actual school."

"Well now I think you're just bad at talking to people," Naminé stated.

"Hold on, is this Hiro someone who works at the school? Can he actually allow you in the school?" Ienzo asked.

"No he's a student, but he did tell me a way I can get in," Naminé said.

"Well tell us then," Even said.

"There's going to be a student showcase, the person with the best invention at the school is allowed in. Full scholarship if you can impress them enough," Naminé said.

"A science fair oh that does sound fun," Even said.

"You seem uncharacteristically happy about this," Ienzo said.

"These science fairs usually have many new and brilliant ideas, usually they're poorly implemented by youthful inexperience but I'm sure I could find something inspirational," Even said, "So… will you be entering this showcase?"

"I mean maybe, but wouldn't that mean I'd have to leave and work there? In a completely different world?" Naminé asked.

"It would be a great opportunity for you, small sacrifices like this are a part of growing up," Ienzo said, "It's your choice overall, but I think this would be a great opportunity for you."

"Well it's not really my choice, I'd have to come up with a great invention first," Naminé said.

"Then that's what we'll do," Even said, "Let's begin the work."

"Wait d- now?" Naminé questioned.

"Yes, this is an exciting opportunity to test the knowledge and intuition of one of our own students, it'd be a shame if we didn't try," Even said, "We're making this your homework from now on."

"Oh… g-great," Naminé reluctantly agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: I'm probably gonna pull the Naminé and Riku relation out of my ass somehow, anyway sorry for being late, Comic-Con and Unpaid Overtime took over my life for a while. Be sure to leave a review once again.


	15. The Assignment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Trying to get back onto schedule, it's time for the Sea-Salt Trio's trip. I know what I'm going to do and usually I try to get them through a world in one go but this one is going to take some time so I'll have to split it a bit.

_You arrive at the top of the mountain to see the entrance to a cave, you enter it. In the back end of the cave built into the rocky wall you see a weathered and decrepit door with a golden handle._

"I'll take a look, **Detect Magic** ," the wizard Xion spoke.

_The Wizard Xion uses her spell, there is an unmistakable sense of magic coming from the door, she also senses some powerful magic coming from the other side._

"We should be careful, there's clearly more to this door than meets the eye," Xion said.

"I smash the door down," Hayner the Barbarian announced.

… _Hayner bashes on the door as hard as he can but the wooden door won't so much as chip as though protected by magic._

"Let me try, **Fireball**!" Lea the sorcerer lifted his hands and fired a ball of flames right at the door.

… _the flames engulf the door but the wood is not scorched and remains a healthy mahogany brown, as though protected by magic!_

"Wait is the door even locked?" Olette the Ranger questioned.

_Olette uses common sense and turns the knob to easily open the door._

_Through the magical door is a very large room stone cobbled from floor to ceiling. Illuminated by torches you see chains and manacles line the wall the stench of blood is heavy in the room._

_In the middle of the room is an old figure wearing a tattered and torn cloak over himself, his white grey beard stretched out nearly touching the floor. He stand before a large black cauldron over a flame, its contents glow a dark violet._

" _You were a fool to take that quest,_ " _the old man taunts, "there is no one left to save, and now that I have new lab rats to test my powers on I shall begin the experiment."_

_The old man pulls out a golden goblet and dips it into the bubbling cauldron, lifting it from the large pot the excess liquid drips from the cup to the floor giving a burning hiss on contact. With no hesitation the old man drinks from the goblet and drops the utensil on the floor. The withered and decrepit body of the old man starts to darken to a deep violet. He cries out in pain as a pair of horns curve up and out of the mans head. His thin bony body gains muscle as he grows three times his height._

_His voice which was weak now begins echoing demonically._

" _You will all be used to sustain my devil powers."_

"I'll take the point," Roxas the Paladin stood in front of his friends, " **Shield of Faith** ," a ring of magic surrounded him and his friends and turned into a light blue bubble.

Olette readied her bow and aimed for the Devil firing the first shot right for it's eye. The arrow imbeds itself in the devils head but it didn't relent it's attack.

_The devil inhales a large gulp of air before blowing a huge torrent of fire at the group of hero's._

" **Control Flame** ," Xion raises her staff and attempts to re-direct the flame from her friends. Her strength is not enough and only holds back part of the flame.

_The hero's were burned but thanks to Xion's spell and Roxas's shield they survive with minimal injury. The Devil inhales more air ready to let loose another torrent of flames._

"Don't worry guys, I got this," Hayner announced taking out a small barrel of ale.

* * *

"How are you equipping Ale, you didn't have that in your inventory," Pence said from the other side of his dungeon master board.

"I got some at the tavern we were at," Hayner said.

"But you didn't announce that you would have it you need to tell me that you're collecting an item," Pence said.

"I'm announcing it now, I collected an item from the tavern," Hayner said.

"You need to announce at the time you collect it so I can take stock of the item in your inventory," Pence told him.

"Okay… I want to roll for a bluff save."

"You can't bluff the Dungeon Master!"

"Wait what's your plan for the ale anyway?" Roxas questioned.

"I want to toss it in the Devils mouth and either burn his insides with alcohol or get him drunk," Hayner said.

"Are you allowed to do that?" Roxas asked.

"If he had any ale then yeah he could use it to ignite the devil maybe, but it would have been really low damage," Pence explained.

"Wait burning his insides with alcohol does only a little damage?" Hayner questioned.

"He's a devil, he's got fire and poison resistance," Pence said.

"Oh… crud maybe I shouldn't have focused on just fire spells," Lea looked over his character sheet.

"I want to use **Charm Person** ," Xion announced.

"Can you do that on a Devil? Aren't devils associated to sins like lust and could resist them?" Olette asked, "Oh my god I'm turning into a nerd."

"This Devil was a human first and pretty recently," Xion explained, "I want to cast it."

"You attempt to charm the devil, but his connection to the sins allows him to control the spell and send it back to you," Pence said.

"Knew it," Olette admitted as though she was ashamed.

"Roll a saving throw to resist the charm," Pence said, "Put the blindfold and mitten on."

Xion put on a sleeping mask and put on a red oven mit on her hand before picking up the dice, "Is this necessary every time?" Xion asked annoyed.

"It is when you can calculate a dice's trajectory and always get 20's," Pence said.

"I still think we should be gambling," Hayner said.

"We're not using Xion to scam people," Lea told him.

"Oh come on, we have to survive on allowances, you guys have well paying jobs," Hayner said.

"Hayner no," Olette told him.

"Fine fine," Hayner relented, " _sigh_ , so any idea how to beat a devil? You guys ever face something like that in your adventures?"

"Uh… no," Roxas answered.

"You should ask Sora, I'm sure he's faced a lot more strange things than all three of us," Lea said.

"You ever face any dragons?" Pence asked.

"No… I can't remember any time we faced a dragon… does a Heartless count?" Lea asked.

"Oh wait, Sora faced one. The witch Maleficent," Roxas said.

"Oh right… man I hated that woman," Lea said.

"You guys always have so much more fun than us," Hayner said, "I wish a Keyblade would chose me."

"It is possible to pass a Keyblade to others," Xion said.

"W- It is!?" Hayner nearly stood up from his seat, "How? How do we do it?"

"Well, to perform the inheritance ceremony you need to place your hand on-."

* _Pat_ * * _Pat_ * * _Pat_ * * _Pat_ * * _Pat_ * Hayner immediately started placing his hand on Roxas multiple times.

"-On the Keyblade of a master," Xion finished.

"Can I see your Keyblade," Hayner quickly added still patting Roxas.

"It won't work from us we're not master level," Lea said.

"When will you be?" Hayner asked.

"It doesn't work like that, even if we performed the ceremony you need a strong heart," Lea said.

"So even if you allowed there's still a chance we wouldn't get it?" Olette asked.

"Yup, only those with a strong heart can receive a Keyblade," Lea said.

"Uh… wait why did you get one?" Pence asked Lea.

"Cause I had a strong heart," Lea answered which met with silence as well as confused stares from the twilight trio, "… what?"

"So… it doesn't have to be a good heart jsut a strong one," Olette asked, "you know cause you kidnapped Kairi and attacked Roxas before."

"Oh for- I changed alright! Yeah I did some bad stuff but in my defense I was a Nobody, I couldn't remember what guilt felt like and I was doing it for my friends... e-except for that time I attacked them but I was forced to follow orders, got it memorized?" Lea questioned.

"If you say so," Hayner said sounding a bit unconvinced.

"Don't give me that look, if you guys really didn't get over it I wouldn't be playing this nerd game with you," Lea said, "Okay somebody aim for the horns and try to knock them off, see if we can knock some of that magic off of him."

* * *

" _Yawn_ ," Lea yawned. Getting up near the crack of dawn wasn't something he was used to.

"You gonna be awake soon Laddie?" Scrooge asked him.

It was the day of their trip around different worlds defending both Scrooge McDuck and Xion from any potential threats. Lea had already gotten ready and met Scrooge out the apartment entrance while he waited for his other two friends.

"Game night lasted longer than it should have," Lea said, "I'll be up don't worry I won't let… what's going to attack you?"

"I'm not expecting anything," Scrooge said, "All in all it's supposed to be a relaxing travel finding some new way for me to make money… though I suppose it has been a while since one of my sworn enemies attacked me so we might be surprised by something."

"I'm sorry what?"

"How's my waitress doing? Any better?" Scrooge asked.

"They're… I don't know there's tension but it's like the two of them are being careful around each other," Lea answered, "Though I think they're starting to figure out a few things- oh for!"

Xion stepped out of the building wearing far more than normal. A baby blue dress that reached all the way down to her ankles adorned with frills and a puffy bonnet atop her head.

"Xion, why do ya look like your about to churn butter to make dinner for the farm workers?" Scrooge questioned.

"I don't understand what you mean but… Olette suggested that I dress more wholesome like if I didn't want to appear easy to other men or women," Xion answered.

"Oh for- this again. Was english not her first language or something?" Scrooge asked annoyed.

"… go put on your normal outfit," Lea ordered annoyed.

"Are you sure? What if I-?"

"Just do it, trust me it'll be for the better," Lea ordered once again.

"Oh… okay… did I misunderstand the situation again?" Xion asked.

"I'll explain later just go," Lea ordered once again, this time Xion hurried to enter their home.

"How and where did she even buy an Amish outfit?" Lea questioned.

"She makes quite a profit working for me, that's not something I say often for my employees," Scrooge said, "… so are you her dad or something?"

"I just might have to be," Lea said annoyed.

Roxas stepped out next dressed as he normally would, "Hey so… are we supposed to be wearing something specific?"

"Just get in the ship," Lea ordered.

* * *

"This is what we're going to be flying in?" Lea asked.

Scrooge had led the group to his own personal Gummi Ship which looked like the basic level looking Gummi ship on the outside. One look at the interior of the ship and the three could tell that it was a bit cheap. The dial and levers all had chipped paint and faded numbers as well. There was evidence of leftover wrappers and food crumbs in the cracks and narrow sections of the ship. The seats had tears and rips in them as well.

"Uh… Mr. Scrooge is this really your ship?" Xion asked.

"You better believe it, I sparred every expense… even the pilot's pay don't tell him that if you ever meet him," Scrooge said.

"You have your own pilot?" Lea asked.

"Well… I wouldn't say-." * _beep beep_ *

As Scrooge was speaking his own phone beeped signaling that he had received a message. He pulled out his own phone and took a look at it.

"Oh, never mind he made it," Scrooge said happily, "Guess he'll live to crash another day, but in answer to your question yes this is my ship. A little dinged up but it's still as space worthy as the day I hauled it up from the junk pile."

"Wow, I was way off on how I imagined your ship would look," Lea said.

"I don't bother with appearances if no one is going to appreciate them, and there's not a lot of lookers in the sky," Scrooge said.

"Well, me and Roxas are supposed to follow you now. Where are you planning to go?" Lea asked.

"I thought I'd take a look as some of the uncharted sections of space see if there are any developed worlds. Maybe open up another Ice Cream shop that always seems to be popular," Scrooge said.

At the front of the ship were two seats, Scrooge hopped up and took the left seat, "Xion, want to give it a go?"

"Me? Really?" Xion questioned.

"Of course, you plan on getting one of these anyway might as well practice and chauffeur me around," Scrooge offered.

"Okay," Xion excitedly took the seat next to scrooge.

"Here you are," Scrooge said handing her a small book, "Just skim the first few pages," he instructed her.

Xion opened the book and began reading.

* _flip_ *

* _flip_ *

* _flip_ *

* _flip_ *

* _flip_ *

* _flip_ *

"I'm ready," Xion announced putting the book down.

"Geeze that's a useful ability," Roxas commented.

* * *

After a more than rocky take off from poor ship maintenance the group was finally flying through the sky reaching the void between worlds and into space. Even without any air turbulence the ship still felt shaky but there was no sign of the ship actually falling apart.

"Okay… where to?" Scrooge questioned, "There's plenty of rocks out here so there's bound to be some world out here."

"How long do you think it'll be till we find a world?" Roxas asked.

"World traveling can be a bit of tricky business lad, you can follow all the trails you want but many of them can end up leading no where. You need patience and perseverance if you want to be a world class explorer," Scrooge lectured.

"There's one," Lea pointed out into the distance.

"Oh really? That was fast," Scrooge said, "Let's get in closer, take a look at where we're going."

* * *

Keeping out of sight of whoever could see Scrooge and the others began their recon of the area. It was a large grassy area lush and full of trees, rivers, and other plant life. What stood out the most was a large tree in the middle of a field. Xion took some binoculars and saw something that looked similar to houses made out of foliage and other structures around the tree almost as though it was made for tiny people.

"Hey there- _gasp_ ," Xion was suddenly excited, "Look look look look look!" she told the others pointing to the base of the three.

The guys looked down and saw something flittering in the air. At first it looked to be bugs but it was something human shaped with wings.

"Whoa… I think we found fairies," Lea started out seeing a bunch of fairy's in different colored outfits that reminded him of flowers and leaves.

"Huh… I don't think I remember seeing fairies before," Roxas said, "I think Sora met a trio of them once but they didn't look like that."

"Should we go say hi?" Lea asked, "I bet there's a bunch of magical stuff you could get from them to sell."

"Nope, nothing here for me let's go," Scrooge announced dropping his own binoculars and heading back in the direction of the ship.

"Wait already?" Lea questioned.

"But can't we go see the fairies?" Xion questioned like a disappointed child.

"I don't like to deal with magic, it always ends badly for me," Scrooge said, "And I sure ain't messing with environment magic from fairies, not after last time with the trees. You can't tell because they're really slow but trees are jerks don't try to talk to them. Now let's go," he ordered

"But… fairies… aw," Xion groaned as she reluctantly followed her boss.

"Aren't… we magic?" Roxas asked.

"More like we use magic… maybe… I should probably ask Even when I get a chance," Lea said.

* * *

After flying through space once again the group was luckily able to find another brand new world very quickly. Coming down past the atmosphere they were able to get a look at the land, the area reminded them of a medieval village. As they were approaching there was clearly some trouble happening.

"Is that…?" Roxas looked out the cockpit of the ship, "Is that a giant suit of armor?" he asked.

There was a giant looking knight armor five stories tall walking around like a robot. Hoards of people and… other creatures seemed to be fleeing in fear.

"Those people, do you think we should help?" Xion asked, "There's a girl there I think she's about to get stepped on!" she said pointing at the front of the armor.

The Ship flew down closer to the ground about to land on the new world.

"Uh… you guys feel that?" Lea questioned.

"Oh no worries it looks like that woman will take care of it," Scrooge said.

Looking out the window there was a Victorian dressed woman with a dark umbrella glowing with what looked like magic. Above her formed out of glowing violet energy something that looked like a skull with butterfly wings.

"Xion… pull up," Scrooge ordered.

The woman aimed the top of her umbrella towards the giant armor and sequentially the four who were going to help.

"Pull up, Pull Up, PULL UP!"

Xion quickly grabbed ahold of the steering world and pressed up on the propulsion. The woman fired the skull butterfly looking spell which continued to grow in size and disintegrated a large portion of the armor and started flying right at the four. They Gummie ship raised up as the large spell approached completely destroying all the trees, small houses, and anything else that was in the way. Xion pressed harder on the boost button just getting out of the way of the destructive spell.

"THIS IS WHY I HATE MAGIC!"

* * *

This time the group was able to touch down on land in a grassy area, there were large looking mushrooms everywhere as well as a large castle atop a tall hill. Exiting the ship the four took a look around.

"Well nothings trying to kill us and there isn't some weird war going on so I like it so far," Lea said.

"Seems to be a nice place," Scrooge said.

"Seems to be a normal area," Roxas said looking out of his binoculars, "Oh hey there's some people over there… and they're wearing weird hats," he pointed out to the giant Mushrooms.

Looking closer it would appear that each spotted mushroom was the size of a house and even came with a door and windows on the front of the base. There were also small people who appeared to live in these different colored mushrooms. Their attire consisted of similar things such as shorts, vest, and something that looked like a mushroom cap on their head.

"Mushroom people?" Scrooge seemed to remember something.

"Huh, don't remember meeting people like that," Lea said.

"Uh… are those blocks floating?" Xion questioned pointing in a different direction.

In another direction there was a group of cubes floating in the air, some seemed to be made of bricks while others were yellow with question marks.

"Wait a minute," Scrooge suddenly sounded worried as he took a look around the area. Far away he saw small brown mushroom shaped creatures walking on stubby legs only two feet tall was well as turtles with green shells standing upright.

"No," Scrooge suddenly sounded fearful as though he realized something.

"Sir? Is everything okay?" Xion asked.

"Get in the ship!" Scrooge ordered.

"What?" Lea questioned, "Why this place looks like it might have some-."

"GET IN THE SHIP NOW!" Scrooge yelled clearly afraid, "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW I'M NOT ALLOWED HERE IN THIS WORLD AFTER WHAT I DID IN 89 AND I'M NOT DEALING WITH THAT MUSHROOM MUNCHING ITALIAN!"

"Uh… what are you-?"

"GET IN THE SHIP!" Scrooge angrily ordered startling the three and making them re-enter their ship and quickly taking off.

* * *

"This isn't as fun as I thought it would be," Lea said as the group was once again back in space flying around, "How does Sora find a place to safely land every time?"

"Well he's just helping people, it doesn't help that we're just here to help someone make money," Roxas said.

"Hey I hired you for this… for free," Scrooge said, "Honestly it wasn't always this hard, I guess there's just more things happening in the worlds around us, more problems. I remember a time when I could just find a world, set up shop, it wasn't that hard before the whole darkness consuming thing. I mean before the Keyblade war worlds were a lot more tame but honestly the war threw things out of balance more than usual it's made everywhere more dangerous."

"Wait wait wait, before the Keyblade war?" Lea asked.

"Yes," Scrooge answered.

"You make it sound like you were there before the war started," Lea said.

"Mm-hm."

"… you want to correct me on anything?" Lea asked.

"Anyway, that's how things go I suppose it's not going to always be a profitable adventure, such is the way of business," Scrooge said.

"Oh hey we have a new world coming into view," Xion pointed out to a new world out in the distance. Unlike the other worlds that were green and blue and had some semblance of color this world was different looking. Just bland and tan like a desert as though it was dead but there were signs of buildings and towns.

"Huh… that place reminds me of the Keyblade Graveyard," Roxas said looking down at the world.

"Hmm… let me take a look, pull up the scanners," Scrooge said taking the pilot seat next to Xion.

Xion pressed a few buttons on the console and a pinging sound could be heard. Scrooge took a look at the monitor in the middle as an image of the world was shown with a green line going along it scanning it. Some new lines appeared and Xion started reading them.

"There's…. nothing…. That world has no life on it," Xion answered.

"What?" Lea questioned worried.

"And yet there's clear signs of civilization from here," Scrooge said.

"That… we didn't do that did we?" Roxas questioned with worry.

"No, the Organization never went to this part of space," Lea said.

"So we have an entire dead world, devoid of life and destroyed leaving nobody left on the surface of this planet," Scrooge said, "… JACKPOT!"

"Wait wHAA-!?"

Xion tried to question Scrooge but he immediately took control of the ship and made a beeline right for the dead planet.

* * *

The world was far more hideous than the view from space made it look. The place was once a city with tall buildings similar to San Fransokyo but far more desolate. Piles of garbage laid around the area and the remnants of car frames. Empty stores layered with grime and dirt over what looked to be centuries of decay. Even the sky was a dusty brown with no clouds or blue to be seen anywhere. There were no signs of people at least, definitely no signs that some terrible battle took place.

"What happened here?" Lea questioned.

"Ay what a mess of a world, wouldn't be surprised if the people here offed themselves," Scrooge said looking around.

"This place is pretty sad looking," Roxas said, "What are we even doing here?"

"You kiddin? Look around you lad a completely untouched and open world with no one around. This kind of place is a bounty of leftover junk just asking to be salvaged," Scrooge said.

"So we're here to rob this place?" Lea asked.

"We're taking from a junk pile people threw away we're not robbing graves," Scrooge said, "Now let's get exploring see what we can find, I've been needing a few new tools for me Bistro."

"We're dumpster diving now? Aren't you rich?" Lea asked.

"Ya don't get rich by spending your money ya get rich by saving it," Scrooge said hurrying along the empty streets with the trio behind him.

"This… isn't what I was hoping for when we went world traveling," Roxas admitted looking around at the place.

"Yeah I know what you mean," Lea said, "Sora talks so much about how fun it is to travel but this place is just depressing."

As the crew explored this world there seemed be a relying theme everywhere they went. The initials of "BnL" could be seen everywhere there was a store or sign. BnL burgers, gas, drinks, luggage, liquid air.

"The heck does B and L stand for?" Lea asked.

"B and L… B n L?" Scrooge repeated to himself, "I swear I've heard that somewhere."

"Buy and Large," Xion answered.

"How do you know that," Lea asked.

"It's on that bank," Xion pointed to a large building called "Buy and Large Bank" which was also in shambles.

" _gasp_ Munny!" Scrooge called out happily. Littering the floor of the bank was a bunch of familiar green bills and Scrooge hurried to collect it. Leaping forward he did a swan dive right into the ground of money and started swimming along the ground, "Ha Ha ha… haaa… this munny feels murky," his excitement seemed to wane.

"This isn't munny," Roxas answered, looking over the bill were the same familiar symbols of BnL.

"I dived into the dirty ground for a bunch of fun bucks?" Scrooge complained, "Ah well, maybe there's something left of value somewhere else, let's keep moving."

"You could probably take the safe in the bank for your munny," Xion suggested.

"That tiny safe in there, to hold all my money? Ha ha" Scrooge laughed, "That's cute. Come on then, there's plenty of buildings around here we're sure to find something of value," he said leading them on.

* * *

The deeper into the city they went there more depressing and somehow alive it looked. There were mechanical shovels and conveyer belts clear signs that someone attempted to clean up the dumpster of a planet. Whoever the people were they were capable of holographic projectors as billboards of Buy and Large Advertisements were up everywhere.

"This place still has power?" Roxas asked.

"Eh sometimes harnessing power is easy, if you know how to work with it," Scrooge said, "My company specializes in power we could easily power something that would last for centuries."

"Those… are those buildings?" Xion questioned pointing to the sky scrappers.

"Of course they are," Scrooge answered.

"No I don't think they are," Xion said looking closer. Everyone else took a closer look as well. The skyscrapers in the distance from afar looked like buildings but they way they were built seemed off. It looked like some of the buildings were just regular buildings but the rest seemed to be made of building blocks.

"Is that… garbage?" Lea questioned.

"So the people were trying to recycle or something?" Roxas asked.

"I don't think this was for building purposes, it looks like they were running out of room to put this stuff," Scrooge said, "But the size of these things, it would take years and years to get them this high, and without tools."

"They built all of this and they still have piles of garbage left," Lea looked over to the heaps and hills of garbage leftover by whoever was here, "Jeeze how much did they trash the world?"

"Welp one mans trash is another's treasure," Scrooge said approaching the pile, "I'm gonna see if we have anything to salvage."

Bringing his hands together as though he was going to jump off a diving board Scrooge jumped up and did a straight dive into the garbage pile. Surprisingly the top layer of garbage dispersed like water as his whole body just went in as though it was actually liquid. A small bump of garbage rose and moved along the pile indicating that Scrooge seemed to swim along the large pile.

"Okay that was actually pretty cool," Lea commented.

"I want to try that!" Roxas announced. He approached the pile and tired to mimic what Scrooge did and jumped into the pile.

* _BONK_ * "Gagh!" Roxas hit his head on a broken toaster and the back of a folding chair, "Ow ow ow ow," Roxas groaned rubbing his bruised head.

Scrooge popped his head out of the garbage, "Years of swimming through gold," he announced before sinking back in and swimming off.

" _Hmm_ ," Xion approached the garbage pile just like Roxas did and recalled how Scrooge moved through the pile.

"Xion wait it's not a liquid!" Roxas tried to call to her.

Xion clasped her hands together like Scrooge and did a jump similar to Scrooge into the pile of garbage.

* _Crash_ *

The top layer of garbage dispersed like water as her whole body just went in as though it was actually liquid.

"Oh… she can copy physical moves to?" Roxas questioned.

"Oh wow!" Xion popped her head out like Scrooge, "This is gross but still fun, I'm going to see what else I can find," Xion dipped back down and started somehow swimming along leaving a raised trail of disturbed garbage as she traveled.

"Huh… she's really adaptable," Roxas said watching Xion leave, "Well while we're here might as well see if there's anything we can use to," he started digging through the garbage.

"Don't you want to keep an eye on Xion?" Lea asked.

"She'll be fine, there's literally nothing on this planet that's dangerous," Roxas said.

"You two still acting weird around each other?" Lea asked him.

"Only… only if it's the two of us," Roxas admitted.

"Yeah I've noticed, you still wait for Xion to leave for work before leaving your room for us to go training," Lea said, "You two aren't really together are you?"

"What-? No!" Roxas exclaimed.

"Good cause that would be weird for us," Lea said.

"Wait are you saying me and Xion couldn't?" Roxas asked now defiant at Lea's words.

"Do you want to?" Lea asked.

"N-No!" Roxas denied.

"You two seriously need to have a talk about what you want," Lea told him.

"We don't want anything!" Roxas told him annoyed.

"I'll believe that when you two talk this out," Lea said.

"What is this even about, what are you complaining for nothing's happened," Roxas argued.

"Oh trust me, something happened," Lea answered with a shudder, "Now help me find a bike, I've been wanting to try biking for a while now."

* * *

* _Clatter_ * "Mr. Scrooge? Sir? Everyone?" Xion called out sticking her head out of a pile of garbage. Trying to navigate through piles of junk was even more difficult than water, she had lost sight of Scrooge and couldn't see any sign of him swimming.

Looking around she saw that she had rose up near one of the tall towers made of compressed garbage. Far to the left of it she noticed something that looked like a slant on the side. Hopping out of the garbage and dusting off the paper clips and bottle caps off herself she took a closer look. The slant on the side of the building appeared to be some kind of ramp.

Looking up the building of compressed garbage she followed the path of the ramp and noticed that it circled the tall building multiple times as far as she could see.

"So that's how they built it," Xion said to herself, "All these blocks are placed so precisely together, who could do all this by-." *clunk _*_

Xion was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of a soda can hitting the ground, looking at where it was and the distance between the pile and the building it could have only come from one place.

Xion looked up.

"Is something moving up there?" she questioned.

…

…

…

…

* _… …. rrrrrrrmm_ *

After a few moments Xion could hear what sounded like a toy car high above her, something was circling the building and coming down. Xion acted quickly and turned right around diving back into the garbage keeping an eye at the end of the ramp she saw. She kept her head hidden under a pile of magazines watching and pulled out her Kingdom Key.

*… _rrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRMMM_ *

" _*Bwee hoo_ *."

After waiting a bit something finally arrived at the bottom of the building. A small machine in the shape of a square just a few feet tall. It had treads for feet and binocular looking eyes for a head. On it's back was a red cooler being used like a backpack.

"What… is that?" Xion questioned.

Xion kept an eye on the machine trying to figure out what it was as it rolled along.

" _*bwee_ * Ah!" the machine gave off a noise that Xion thought made it sound as though it was suddenly worried. The Machine started circling around its spot and giving off noises every once in a while.

"What's it doing?" Xion questioned, "Is it looking for something?"

Xion rose her head a bit from the pile of magazines trying to see what it was doing. Her vision was suddenly interrupted by two small lines in front of her eyes. She also noticed the feeling of tiny pricks on her forehead, and then saw a mandible far too close to her eyes.

" _mwar_!" purred the tiny cockroach on her face.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Xion screamed and shot out of the pile smacking her own face trying to get the disgusting bug off of her. Realizing that there wasn't anything on her anymore she froze remembering that there was something she was keeping an eye on.

The small robot seemed to freeze as well stuck mid motion looking underneath a soup can.

"… _.uhhhhhhhh_ ," Xion paused not knowing how to act.

" _bwee_?" The little machine gently put down the can and seemed to straighten up keeping both it's glass eyes on her.

* _Twee_ * " _Mrwar_!"

Xion looked down at her feet to see the same Cockroach that she had been afraid of letting out a 'flicking' noise.

" _Ew!"_ she cried out before stomping it.

* _Crunch_ * "WAAAHH!"

The instant Xion stepped on the bug the robot started freaking out and rolled right for her. Picking up her leg and nearly causing her to trip with surprising strength. The Machine then picked up the squashed bug and gave off sounds of sadness.

"Oh OH was he your friend!?" Xion started to freak out, "I-I'm so sorry I didn't know-!" * _pop_ *

The bug's body seemed to pop back into place and started crawling around as though nothing had happened. It seemed to behave almost like a dog. From atop the robots three pronged hand the cockroache turned its head at Xion and seemed to hop at her like it was asking for attention.

Xion looked down at the bug and out of curiosity and confusion gave it a scratch on the head with her pinky finger. One of the back legs started shaking up and down as she scratched the bug.

"* _Bwee ooh*_ ," the small machine called to her and started waving its hand at her.

"Oh… hi," Xion answered, she stopped scratching the top of the bug who went back on top of the machines box like body.

The machine seemed to be calm as it started circling her as if it was examining her. The robot stopped in front of her and looked down at her feet before looking up at her face. Xion just stood not knowing what to do.

The robot then pushed a button on the front of its chest.

"/ _Put on your Sunday clothes there's lots of world out there/!_ " a song started playing from the robot.

Xion didn't move and the Robot seemed to give her a confused look, it gave her leg a small poke as though it was expecting her to start doing something. The robot moved behind Xion and took ahold of her ankles, Xion did nothing from confusion as the robot moved one leg in front of the other seemingly doing it to the rhythm of the music. After seeing that Xion wouldn't do anything the robot pressed the same button and stopped the music and just rolled up right in front of her.

"Um… I'm Xion?" she said hoping for a response.

"… Wall-E," the robot said in a robotic sounding voice.

"Oh so… you can talk," Xion said.

"…* _bwee_ *."

"Or… maybe just that one word," Xion concluded.

* * *

"Huh… this looks interesting," Lea pulled out a hub cap that still had a bit of shine on it. Tossing it like a frisbee to the nearest wall the item ricocheted off a few times in the distance, "Man I miss my Chakrams."

"Think this still works?" Roxas asked pulling out a large fridge, "I'm getting sick of stuffing the leftovers in our fridge."

"Guys!" Xion called out, this time running to the three instead of swimming through a solid pile.

"There you are, you find anything useful?" Lea asked.

"Yeah look look," Xion pointed behind her, Roxas and Lea heard the sound of a small car and then saw Wall-E approach them. The small robot rolled up to the two before giving a small wave at them.

"What is that? Is it safe?" Lea questioned, he kneeled down to the Robot and took a look at him.

"He calls himself Wall-E," Xion said.

"Wall-E," the robot repeated in his own voice.

"Is this some kind of toy?" Lea questioned.

"No he's… sentient I think?" Xion stared at Wall-E.

Wall-E started rolling around Lea and Roxas examining the two just as he did with Xion.

"Is he supposed to be a remnant of this world? What is he?" Lea asked as Wall-E started looking over Roxas.

"I don't know, Wall-E," Xion asked which seemed to get the robots attention, "Can you… tell us what you're here for? Or say anything?"

"* _bweee_ *?… Oh!"

Wall-E seemed to think for a moment but then perked up. He took off the red cooler on his back and placed it on the ground and approached a pile of garbage. The front of his chest opened up and he started using his hands to shovel the garbage into himself. Wall-E closed his body up and seemed to scrunch himself up. When he opened up his body again all the garbage was compressed into a cube and dropped on the ground.

"Oh he's the on that's been doing all this?" Roxas said looking around to see all the buildings made of garbage as well as remembering the ones he couldn't see, "But there's so many, how long did it take him to make all these?"

"Must have taken him years," Lea said, "And there's no way he's going to be done any time soon. He must have been alone all this time poor thing."

Wall-E went back to his small red cooler and paused for a moment before opening it up. Inside was an assortment of different items which were clearly garbage. Wall-E pulled out a small rubix cube and seemed to offer it to Lea.

"Oh you're giving gifts now," Lea said taking the rubix cube.

Wall-E approached Roxas and offered him a plastic spork.

"Uh," Roxas hesitated.

"Just take the gift," Lea ordered him. Roxas took the offered gift from Wall-E's hand.

Wall-E then pulled out a small silver lighter with the initials 'BnL' on it and offered it to Xion.

"Thank you," Xion opened up the lighter and gave it a flick, surprisingly the lighter lit up.

"Hey lads!"

Scrooge finally arrived carrying a large sack on his back that clanked and rattled with every step.

"Found a bunch of old pots and pans, a bit rusted but nothing a good polishing won't fix. Hopefully little chef won't notice, gonna have ta bleach the heck out of these his nose seems to know everything," Scrooge said, "Uh… what's that," he asked pointing to Wall-E who was waving at him.

"This is Wall-E!" Xion said excitedly, "He's the one who's been making all these blocks of garbage."

"Ah I see," Scrooge answered, "Well hello there mister Wall-E," he approached Wall-E shaking his hand.

"* _Bwoo Wee_ *," Wall-E answered happily moving his hand up and down.

"Okay let me just take this, and we'll pop off the hood. I think it's right here," Scrooge pulled out a screw driver and started fiddling with the front plate of Wall-E. Wall-E seemed to give a few laughs like he was being tickled as Scrooge fiddled with him.

"WAIT!" Xion immediately picked up Wall-E and pulled him away from Scrooge, "What are you doing!?"

"Just trying to shut him down," Scrooge answered as though nothing was wrong.

"What!? Why!?"

"Xion I've had a lot of experience with machines and I can tell you right now they always end up trying to kill me and everyone… well the sentient ones not the one's controlled by other people," Scrooge said, "I'm just gonna take him down before he tries to take me down."

"NO!" Xion responded hugging Wall-E tighter to herself, "Why do you think Wall-E's a threat!?"

"Xion I'm still dealing with a living lightbulb that I'm sure wants to kill me, so trust me when I say that anything that comes out of a lab thinking is always bad news," Scrooge said.

"… I'm sorry?" Xion questioned.

"I'm sure the little thing is acting all friendly now but it won't be long before it realizes that people are a problem and need to be destroyed or that it's superior and should be in charge that's the way lab experiments go. We all love our science but things usually made from science in a lab that start acting on their own are always a threat and they're nothing but bad… news-?"

Roxas and Lea kept making silence movements. Pretending to cut their necks with their flat hands or making 'X' shapes and shaking their heads no. Scrooge was questioning what the two were trying to convey to him till he noticed Xion giving him a bit of a disappointed angry glare.

"… I may have said something insensitive," Scrooge concluded.

* * *

"Xion! Xion come on!" Scrooge called out but Xion continued to ignore him.

Wall-E had taken his friend Xion by the hand and started tugging her along like it was worried about something. Xion felt mad at her boss and followed Wall-E as he led her along the tracks of an only monorail station. Wall-E kept a brisk pace that Xion was easily able to keep up with. Lea and Roxas both followed behind the three.

"Don't think I've seen Xion mad," Roxas said, "Kind of… weird."

"Yeah… really hoping this isn't something she can do against us," Lea said, "Wonder where Wall-E's taking us."

"You don't think he's actually going to turn out evil do you?" Roxas questioned.

"Naw, I ain't sensing anything evil from the little guy," Lea said, "Fun fact, I heard Riku talk about a robot that had a heart."

"You think… Wall-E has a heart?" Roxas asked.

"Too soon to tell but he's definitely showing the signs," Lea said.

Soon the group arrived at another monorail station where Wall-E got off. Xion followed him still ignoring Scrooge's apologies to her.

" **Too much garbage in your face?** "

Everyone jumped in shock at the automatic advertisement.

As soon as Wall-E stepped into the station there was a loud announcement. Along the station a series of different holographic videos started playing.

Images of piles of garbage.

A large space ship flying through space and taking off from the planet.

Multiple Wall-E's cleaning up garbage.

" **There's plenty of space out in space! BNL star liners leaving each day. We'll clean up the mess while you're away!** "

Another video appeared everyone stopped to see what it was about this time.

" **The jewel of the BNL fleet, the Axiom. Spend your five-year cruise in style, waited on 24 hours a day by our fully automated crew, while your captain and autopilot chart a course for nonstop entertainment, fine dining, and with our all-access hoverchairs, even Grandma can join the fun. There's no need to walk. The Axiom. Putting the star in executive star liner."**

The Video showed a large cruise ship like space ship with different people all in red jumpsuits being taken care of by robots and sitting in flying chairs.

"Is this… what happened?" Roxas questioned.

This time a man appeared, according to the video at the bottom it said Shelby Forthright CEO of Buy and Large.

" **Because at BNL, space is the final fun-tier!** " he called out as he waved to a taking off spaceship.

The video's all stopped and everyone took in what they just saw.

"So… they did this?" Roxas asked, "They trashed their own world and just left it."

"Seems that way," Lea said.

"Forthright," Scrooge said sounding frustrated, "I should have known, can't believe I forgot after all this time."

"Wait what?" Lea questioned, "Did you know who that was?"

"Ay… I think I may have been here a long time ago, should have realized it sooner," Scrooge said.

"You've been here?" Roxas asked.

"Long long time ago back when I was a wee multi millionare," Scrooge began, Roxas and Lea gathered close but Xion kept her distance while Wall-E approached Scrooge, "I met Forthright back when he owned a single store. He had this idea for a store that would sell everything, food, tools, clothes, anything you can think of in one convenient shopping place."

"That sounds like a smart idea," Lea said.

"I thought so too at the time, that's why I invested in him and his idea, Buy and Large," Scrooge continued, "At first it was great, I made ten times me money back and his store just kept getting more and more successful, he even started business in other departments it seemed. Unfortunately he did too well, other stores couldn't keep up with him other businesses had to shut down. While I enjoyed the money I've seen first hand what that kind of trouble leads to. I tried to ask Forthright to tone it down but he didn't listen and kept opening more and more stores. I wanted nothing else to do with him and his monopoly scheme, so I sold whatever assets and stock I had and left the world for good."

"And that led to an entire world being destroyed?" Roxas asked.

"This is why I only open a few businesses all in different worlds, you build a tower too tall eventually it'll come crashing down, and sometimes it crashes on the people below," Scrooge said, "He must of thought all these machines could clean up his mess," he looked over to Wall-E, "BUT THAT DIDN'T WORK OUT DID IT YA MONOPOLIZING HAGAS MUNCHER, WHAT DO YA GOT NOW NOTHIN!" he yelled in the direction the video had played.

"So… you were built to clean up someone else's mess," Xion asked Wall-E.

" _*Bwooee ooh_ *."

"… I know what that's like… to be made just to be used," Xion said sadly.

" _*bwoeh_ *?"

Wall-E seemed to be curious but then he looked in the direction of the sun that was going down. He took ahold of Xion's hand and seemed to want her to hurry along with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Okay this is where I'm gonna end it. Be sure to let me know if you can guess what worlds the group would have vistited. Also I never realized how difficult it is to write a character in that doesn't speak. Be sure to Comment and review and we'll continue this next time.


	16. Old Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: Okay back at this and like usual work is being an insensitive A-hole. I'm just going to get to work now.

The morning light started to gently pool into the dark room. Aqua soon felt a glare of light hit her eyes. When she awoke she immediately felt a sharp pain in her head. The light felt like fire in her eyes and the sounds of her squeaking bed felt like the sound of a nail against her ear.

" _Nngh_ … w-what," Aqua tried to stand up from her bed but her legs quickly gave out causing her to fall back into the bed, "W-What happened?" she questioned.

She saw that she was in a small room, nothing that stood out to her but she also noticed that she was all alone.

"Where… Terra? Ven?" Aqua called out, "Guys!?"

She felt a light panic build up, ignoring the pain in her head and weak legs she started heading for the door.

* _SMASH_ * " _GNNGH_!" Ventus groaned in pain as Aqua slammed the door in his face.

"VEN! You're here! Oh my gosh I'm so sorry," Aqua apologized as Ventus rubbed his possibly broken nose.

" _NNNgh_ , You're awake," Ventus stated still in pain.

"Where are we?" Aqua questioned.

"You sort of drank too much last night and you kept falling off of Terra's speeder so we were forced to get a room here in Disney Town," Ventus said.

"We're still in Disney Town?" Aqua questioned, " _nngh_ , my head," she suddenly remembered the pounding headache that plagued her.

"You okay?" Ventus asked her.

"My head is- _ngh_ please don't talk to loudly," Aqua held her in pain, "I have a horrible headache, can you cast some magic?"

"Right sure," Ventus pulled out his own Keyblade, " **Cure**."

A small green light surrounded Aqua for a brief second.

" _NNGH_!" Aqua fell to her knees at the painful feelings, "It made it worse!"

"What? How?"

"I-I think it's poison… Wait was I poisoned last night!?" Aqua started to panic.

"You had six bottles of that wine last night," Ventus told her.

"… yeah that would do it," Aqua admitted before suddenly placing her hand over her mouth, " _mngh_ , I'm gonna be sick hold on," Aqua turned right around and slammed the door of her bathroom.

"We need to check out in an hour," Ventus called out to her.

* * *

The small inn offered free breakfast, Terra had woken up and was about to check on Aqua but immediately woken Ventus up to do it for him. The idea of talking to Aqua after that incident last night continued to plague him well into the night. It had all started out so well when Lumière had told him how to make Aqua happy. It was so joyous to see her smiling after so long, a genuine smile that he hadn't seen since their reunion. Then Aqua's drunken kiss kept playing over and over in his head and it made him feel sick for the thoughts he had about his friend and master.

"She's up… and she's feeling a bit sick," Ventus said taking a seat next to him.

"That's to be expected, I better get her some medicine when I can," Terra said.

"I already tried a cure on her, it made it worse," Ventus said, "Have we been poisoning her to make her happy?"

"That wasn't what we were going to do, she drank too much. She must have been too happy and forgot to be responsible with the wine. I forgot how dangerous wine can be," Terra said.

"Why did we give it to her then?" Ventus asked.

"It was to help her relax I didn't expect her to go crazy with it she's usually more restrained. Although I guess the whole point of this trip was to get her to relax," Terra said.

"Speaking of which; are we still going over to Radiant Garden?" Ventus asked.

"If Aqua is up for it, and I know she's going to want to go right away," Terra said.

* _THUD_ * Aqua's body fell on the ground immediately alerting the two.

"Aqua!" Terra stood up

"I-I'm fine!" Aqua was already forcing herself up, "Just still a little shakey," Ventus and Terra were already by her sides trying to help her up, "I said I'm finE-!"

"I got yo _u_ u _u_ -!"

Ventus and Terra were able to get her back to her feet but once again she had a hard time standing and fell right onto Terra's chest. The instant she fell forward she used what little sense of awareness she tried to aim herself to fall face first on Terra's large chest. Terra reacted as well as he usually did and caught Aqua.

Even though it wasn't the first time he had caught her or even hugged her this close to himself, for the first time in his life the soft feeling of her breast pressing up against him made Terra feel nervous and guilty. He quickly held shoulders holding Aqua at arms length away from himself.

"I-I didn't hurt you did I?" Aqua questioned when she heard Terra's strange reaction.

"No!" Terra answered quickly, "Let's just… get you some breakfast that should help you."

* * *

Aqua seemed to almost chug down her coffee in an attempt to shake off whatever was bothering her. While she felt more awake and aware Aqua still felt a bit of pain at anything that sounded too loud.

"You feeling better?" Ventus asked her.

"Yeah… sorry you… had to see me like that. What happened last night? I forgot what happened after we spoke to the mirror," Aqua questioned the two.

"Well you were really excited about tomorrow and decided to drink more of that rose wine then you… well honestly you were the most fun I've ever seen. They showed a cartoon at the place and you were just constantly laughing the entire time," Ventus said, "You were pretty fun, I don't think I've ever seen you laugh that much."

"We had to leave though when you were suddenly dead set on finding those Dalmatian puppies again, that led to a thing with some woman named Cruella but we got out of there before you got… involved in anything questionable," Terra stated.

"Oh light," Aqua groaned, "Why didn't you just take me home?"

"We tried but you wouldn't hold on, you let go of me and almost hit the ground," Terra said.

" _sigh_ , I'm really glad Master Eraqus isn't here to see me like this," Aqua sounding disappointed in herself.

"Are you kidding? I don't think I've ever seen you laugh or cheer in my life we should come here more often," Ventus told her.

"No," Aqua plainly stated.

"Well maybe don't drink so much next time, I mean you did go pretty crazy when you found out about your Keyblade," Ventus said.

"Ah… that reminds me, we need to go to Radiant Garden now."

"Are you sure?" Terra asked, "You don't seem to be in the best of condition."

"I'm already feeling better," Aqua stood up from her spot but she had to immediately place her hands on the table to keep herself stable, "I'll feel better once we get moving."

"If your Keyblade has been in the same spot I'm sure it's not going anywhere," Terra told her.

"This isn't something I can wait on," Aqua ordered still holding herself straight, "I'm not going to be able to relax until I get my Keyblade back."

"Aqua AQUA Realx!" Ventus cried out.

Aqua started down at her hands at Ventus's outburst and just like all the other times she once again saw the same brief image of darkness seem to seep out of her hands. Aqua panicked and tried to flick it away like dirt.

"Guys please I need this, I can't wait anymore," Aqua pleaded the two.

"Alright, it's fine we'll go," Terra agreed.

* * *

Terra and Ventus set up their armor and riders preparing to take off. Terra sat on his speeder before remembering that Aqua would once again be riding with him. Aqua placed her hand on Terra's shoulder instantly feeling him tense up.

"Are you hurt?" Aqua questioned.

"N-No, why?" Terra asked.

"You seem to freeze up whenever I touch you."

"Nope no I'm fine," Terra denied.

"Okay just… hold still I'm still a bit dizzy," Aqua told him. Placing both hands on his shoulders Terra did his best to relax as Aqua tried to feel around trying to get herself settled sitting behind Terra and his speeder.

Wearing his full plate of armor Terra didn't have any direct contact but he still felt as nervous as if he weren't wearing anything. Aqua scooted against wrapping her arms around Terra and he felt his back plate gently shift around gently which was enough to get him to tense up once again.

"H-Hey maybe you should ride with Ventus," Terra suddenly suggested.

"What? Why?" Aqua questioned.

"Just that… maybe he feels left out."

"I don't really like riding his speeder, yours is more stable," Aqua told him.

"Right… o-okay," Terra stuttered.

His speeded pulled off from the ground and Aqua held on to him tighter giving a slight groan of pain. The sound of his jets caused Aqua instinctively grabbed him closer which Terra did his best to ignore.

"You guys coming?" Ventus called out.

"Yeah coming!" Terra answered quickly.

They started flying through the air approaching the exit of the world. Aqua still felt a bit sick and held on tight to Terra nestling her face in his neck to try and get away from the loud noises. Aqua couldn't stop rustling and Terra felt the back plate of his armor shift even more and he knew exactly what part of Aqua was giving him a small gentle nudge.

Terra made sure that Aqua was holding on to him though, after nearly letting her sleeping body fall to the ground he would be more alert. Though soon Aqua seemed to move even closer this time and Terra felt her weight on the speeder shift as though she were moving.

This time he felt a bit of pressure on his waist looking down Terra almost let go of the handles. Aqua seemed to wrap both her legs around him and Terra could just see the bit of flesh on Aqua's legs that were above the form fitting stockings and her metal heels nudged right on him.

"A-Aqua!?" Terra stuttered.

"Just keep flying, I just need to focus on holding on," Aqua said in a sick tone.

Terra did his best to keep his eyesight straight forward and not down at the area of her bare thighs.

* * *

As soon as they all arrived Terra was quick to get off his speeder and get a bit of distance from Aqua. She was still too queasy to notice but as she said she recovered enough to not need support as soon as she stood on the ground.

"You feeling better?" Ventus asked her.

"Yes… yes I'm fine," Aqua was giving a small heavy breath, "It's almost out of my system."

"Where do we look from here?" Ventus asked.

"The Mirror said that it was underneath the castle of Radiant Garden… the… very large one," Aqua said getting a look at the caste from a distance, " _Sigh_ this might take a while."

"Wouldn't Ansem know where it is?" Ventus asked.

"There was a mention that the place my Keyblade was in a place after the inhabitants left, if nobody said anything before I doubt they even know its there," Aqua said.

* * *

Arriving to the castle Aqua seemed to get defensive when she saw the small hoard of Dusk sweeping and cleaning the halls. Ventus seemed to take interest in the place and tried to speak to some of the Dusk thinking they would speak to him.

"Everything fine?" Terra asked.

"Yeah just not used to seeing so many enemies going around and acting like people," Aqua was keeping her defense up instinctively getting her hand ready to summon her Keyblade.

"These guys are pretty neat, maybe we should see if we can get a few ourselves. Keeping the castle clean is pretty annoying," Ventus said.

"We are not allowing one of those things into the castle," Aqua stated pointing at a nearby Dusk.

The Dusk then proceeded to give out a small huff of disappointment and droop its head down as though it were sad before turning around and leaving.

"I think you hurt its feelings?" Terra questioned.

"What? No those… they don't have feelings," Aqua stated confused.

"Oh you three?" Ienzo arrived surprised to see the three, "We weren't expecting any visitors, what are you here for?"

"There's something we need to see," Aqua started.

* * *

"Hmm I see," Master Ansem spoke to both Naminé and Even.

Within his old office Master Ansem was discussing Even and Naminé's new side project as well as her discussion with other worlds. Naminé seemed to clutch her tablet listening to Even speak about the school chance she was offered. Even just seemed happy at the opportunity, almost like he was proud.

"This boy Hiro, he is unaware of your true origin correct?" Ansem asked Naminé.

"Yes, he thinks I work under two scientist who prefer to stay hidden from the world," Naminé said.

"As long as he does not figure out that there are other worlds it should be fine, we must make sure to protect the world order," Ansem spoke with concern.

"There is a small chance Sora may have let something slip so, I'll just prepare a list of excuses just in case," Naminé said.

"Sora," Ansem shook his head, "So open to others, and what shall you be doing for this science fair? How far ahead is this worlds technology."

"Surprisingly very advanced, they seemed to be about as advanced as we could be if we had a few decades to work and we weren't rebuilding our world. There shouldn't be any trouble with matching their technology," Even said, "They also asked to look into my Replicas work, that however is a bit beyond their understanding so I'll reclass it as a type of cybernetics' if I go."

"I'm not too sure we should be sharing that much, maybe we should just forget about it," Naminé spoke up.

"What? No this is a good opportunity," Even argued.

"Um sir?"

The front door of his office opened up with a light knock, Ienzo allowed himself in along with Aqua, Terra, and Ventus.

"Aqua, Terra, Roxas," Naminé happily called out.

"Ventus."

"Right right, sorry, Ventus."

"Aqua and friends, what can I do for you?" Ansem asked them.

"We were hoping to look at something here," Aqua stated, "Do you guys have a basement here in the castle."

"… why are you asking?" Ansem seemed to be more cautious.

"Well… we were told that my Keyblade might be in a basement here in Radiant Garden," Aqua explained.

"By whom?" Even questioned.

"A, _ahem_ magic mirror," Aqua hesitated.

"It's the same one that helped me find Xehanort," Terra added.

"… _sigh_ , I suppose I owe you this much at least. Yes there is a place I suppose would fit that description," Ansem said.

"Are you certain we should open it up again? I thought we were hoping to forget about that place," Ienzo said.

"There's nothing actually dangerous down there it shouldn't be a problem," Even stated.

"Wait what are we talking about?" Naminé seemed to notice a slight tension between the three scientist.

"Should we not have asked?" Terra questioned noticing the tension as well.

"No… Even is right there is nothing to worry about," Ansem stood up from his desk and started walking to the door towards the computer room, "I will show you the way."

* * *

The computer room lit up as soon as the sensors picked up motion. The monitor booted up showing its progress on its screen. Naminé felt excited never really getting a chance to see the super computer in action.

" _User Ansem, Ienzo, Naminé, and Even hello_ ," a robotic voice called out seeing Ansem with, " _Greetings new users_ ," it spoke again when it saw Aqua, Terra, and Ventus.

"Tron… I need you to open the door to the basement," Ansem requested.

" _Are you certain? You were adamant about keeping that room locked_."

"Yes, open it."

" _Very well, I will require your password,"_ the screen switched showing six different text box Ansem quickly filled in the blanks with a heavy heart.

"The password is your employees names?" Naminé questioned.

"Yes… I didn't believe I needed to worry about anything at the time," Ansem answered.

* * *

Within the next large room past the computer room was dozens of what looked to be cylinders on the wall. Ansem led them down the steps to what appeared to be just a large area of floor. Right where the steps ended Ansem signaled the rest.

"Step back a moment," Ansem pressed both his feet together.

A small section of the floor lit up underneath Ansem, then ahead of him a long section of the floor lit up for a brief moment. The area's started to split apart from each other opening a new hole in the floor. A ramp appeared in a bright light making a new path for them all.

"Down here is our basement," Ansem said, though he did not sound proud to admit.

"Uhhh… how long has this been here?" Naminé was surprised by the secret entrance.

"Long before we were here," Even answered her.

"And what's down there?" Aqua questioned now feeling worried.

"Long ago when I was studying hearts I was intrigued in the darkness that lied in people's hearts and wanted to know more about it. The rooms below… helped me in that regard," Ansem admitted.

"You too," Aqua sounded disappointed in him.

"I am fully aware of the mistakes I've made," Ansem answered.

"Hey so Aqua's Keyblade should be down there right!?" Ventus spoke up.

"Right… right let's just go," Aqua said stepping down.

The first path into the basement led them down a sinister spiral looking ramp, the bottom was hidden from view by darkness.

"Oh wow… this is all safe right?" Naminé asked.

"It should still be stable," Ienzo told her.

The group started walking down even further, Terra started to feel a reaction to the area as the darkness in him started to react as though there was something welcoming and warm to protect. Aqua began to feel a sense of dread not from possible betrayal but by whatever may have been left here.

Finally reaching the bottom of the spiral ramp the single door at the bottom led to a hallway. Doors on both sides which looked similar to how a jail door would look.

"I'm starting to see how Sora could mistake you for the bad guys," Naminé said, "Has all of this been here the whole time? Are there other rooms hidden here?"

"Yes," Even said.

"Such as?"

"We haven't actually explored the entirety of this castle, there are plenty of areas that would be difficult to reach without some aerial maneuvers," Even said.

"Why don't we use this area for storage or something?" Naminé asked.

"This place is still not a pleasant area, I had hoped to never see this place again," Ansem said looking over his old mistake, "Everything is still as I… that was not there before," Ansem froze in his spot his eye's stopped on a simple double doors at the far end of the hallway that didn't look like a jail cell with two black Nobody symbols with chains.

"Ah, I forgot… we… may have added another room," Ienzo spoke up awkwardly when they saw the door.

"Who is we?" Ansem questioned now sounding disappointed.

"The… first Organization Thirteen," Even said sounding just as ashamed.

"Why?" Ansem asked worried.

"We don't know, as soon as we had that room built Xehanort, Terra actually now that I remember, none of us knew what it was for Xehanort would keep us out all the time. It was his own private room," Even said.

"Oh… wow that feels like just yesterday," Terra realized sadly.

"Ah yes, I forgot that happened… wait a moment, Aqua did you also lose a set of armor as well?" Ansem suddenly remembered.

"What- yes!" Aqua suddenly perked up.

"… years ago when Xehanort appeared in Terra's body there was also a Keyblade with him along with a set of armor. I had completely forgotten about that," Ansem said, "This all would have happened on the day you went missing if I remember correctly."

"That was… the day we both fought. It happened after we lost to old Xehanort and Vanitas," Terra realized.

"Wait a moment I remember that day," Even spoke up, "I don't recall you bringing in anything like that just Terra."

"I attended to Xehanort at the time who was very weak, I left Braig alone with the rest of the items that appeared," Ansem said.

"Xigbar, _ugh_ that boot licker," Even groaned in annoyance.

"So if he did not keep them then Aqua's weapons would likely be in one place," Ienzo said looking over to the last room.

At that moment Aqua turned to face the same door that Ansem had been keeping his eye on. Taking the initiative she tired looking for something to open the door with but there was no button or knob. There was also very little power running through the area meaning there wasn't anything to power up the possibly electric door.

There was a small space between the door and Aqua tried to dig her fingers in trying to pry it open. There was only a slight budge enough to get all eight of her fingers in but nothing further.

* _Creek_ * Terra stepped behind Aqua and tried prying the door himself. Terra made some noticeable progress as the door started to make breaking and screeching sounds making a larger gap of space.

"Almost got it," Terra grunted forcing the door open.

"Keep going," Aqua told him.

With the head start he had Aqua placed her hands over his to help him push apart the doors.

" _mrEh_!" * _SLAM_ * In an instant Terra forced open the door the second Aqua touched his hands.

"Couldn't we have used a Keyblade?" Ventus asked.

"Ah There it is!" Aqua cried out in joy and worry. Within the familiar looking room she saw her Keyblade sticking in the ground along with a pile of slightly worn and rusted armor. Aqua quickly ran to her weapon pulling it out of the ground. She fell to her knees from the relief of finally getting her Keyblade back.

"Finally… finally finally finally," she said to herself.

"What… is this room?" Ansem questioned looking around.

There were multiple black Nobody symbols all around with image's of chains that led from the symbols down to the center where a throne like chair stood.

"There doesn't appear to be anything of use… did he just come in here just to sit?" Even questioned.

"The Chamber of Repose," Terra said.

"You know this room?" Ansem questioned.

"No, wait? I shouldn't-," Terra held his head like he was suddenly getting a headache, "I've never been here why would I call it that?"

"… if Xehanort was here all the time then you would probably have some leftover memory of it," Naminé said.

"Do you remember anything else?" Ansem asked now worried.

"That… _mnn_ , no I think all I got is the name and that just popped up," Terra said.

"Hmm… we should do another sweep of this area," Ansem said, "Naminé call Riku, ask him to take a look of this area. We should look over our casltes systems once again see if there was anything Xehanort left over. There's nothing he left behind is there?"

"Not that we're aware of," Ienzo said.

"Aqua, we're leaving," Terra told her.

"Right, right of course," Aqua said still relieved stood up from her spot.

* _Clang_ * Aqua let go of her Keyblade which hit the floor with a metallic clunk.

"Uh… Aqua?" Ventus questioned.

"That shouldn't have- Hold on," Aqua picked up her blade again. This time she focused and concentrated on it trying to get her weapon to disappear and return to her, "It's not- it's not returning to me!" she panicked.

"What? What do you mean," Terra questioned.

"My Keyblade it- it still feels dead to me. That doesn't make sense I'm right here! Return!" Aqua tried shaking her weapon in an attempt to possibly wake it up, "Return, RETURN!"

"Aqua stop!" Terra told her, she didn't listen and continued to get more and more frustrated.

"Why isn't this working!" * _CLANG_ *

Aqua angrily threw her weapon as the wall, the tip of the weapon hit the wall but didn't embed in it like a sword. Instead it fell to the ground like an unsharpened piece of metal.

"What am I doing wrong now!" Aqua yelled out gripping the air like she was about to choke something.

"Aqua Stop! You know what'll happen if you get this angry!" Terra tried to hold her down by her shoulders in an attempted to keep her calm.

Aqua froze and kept an eye on her hands waiting for any sign of darkness to seep out of her. Thankfully she didn't see anything happen and she felt she was able to stop being angry enough to keep anything from happening.

" _sigh_ … why?" Aqua sounded sad, "This shouldn't be happening, I'm right here I'm supposed to be a Keyblade master and I can't even call back my own Keyblade," she picked up her weapon again hoping that something had changed but her Keyblade was still as cold as before.

"Perhaps we should look into this," Ansem told her, "It's possible that Xehanort may have done something to it."

"Yes! Yeah that has to be it!" Aqua seemed to cheer up at the idea.

"Well I suppose it's been a while since we looked over a Keyblade," Even said.

* * *

Aqua waited outside the laboratory in the castle, Even and Ienzo began doing their own test to see if there was anything wrong or any type of interference. Aqua remained hopeful that her slight hindrance was due to some outside force.

"So… you really think it's something Xehanort did?" Ventus asked her.

"… It has to be," Aqua answered.

"What if it's not though? Has something like this ever happened to anybody?" Ventus questioned.

"…not that I know of," Aqua answered, "But this obviously has something to do with Xehanort maybe he tainted my Keyblade with darkness or he cut its connection with me and my heart I'm sure there's plenty that's happened," she argued.

"You don't think it has anything to do with your sudden dark fits do you?" Ventus questioned. Aqua felt dread to what he suggested.

"No, I have it under control."

"Well… not really it's been seeping out-."

"I have it under control," Aqua told him.

"Okay okay," Ventus relented.

* * *

Giving a quick call to Riku, Naminé invited Riku over to examine the basement of Castle Oblivion. Terra volunteered to explore with him as well.

"I'm not seeing anything wrong here," Riku said feeling one of the doors, "I'm definitely feeling something leftover but nothing that would cause any problems."

"Are you getting any more memories of this place?" Naminé asked Terra.

"No nothing, I think I had a brief flash of sitting in the chamber but nothing else," Terra answered.

"That doesn't seem too dangerous, what are we even searching for?" Naminé asked them.

"If we knew that we wouldn't be looking for it," Riku started knocking on the walls with his Keyblade trying to hear for anything that might be off, "So how much longer will you be helping Aqua, Terra?"

"She's… been a bit worried about herself. We were doing well at the Kings club Aqua really seemed to be happy," Terra said.

"The House of Mouse? I really gotta go there he's told me all about that place," Riku said.

"Right well then Aqua and I found out about her Keyblade and she… lost control of herself."

"Oh… ehh was she that excited," Naminé asked worried.

"Wha- NO! Not like- one of Sora's friends suggested a wine for us and she kind of drank to much," Terra quickly explained.

"She drinks?" Riku asked.

"No none of us do but Sora's friend suggested it, he was kind of giving me tips on how to ease her heart," Terra told them.

"Ease her heart? Wait which friend of Sora's?" Riku questioned.

"The candles, Lumiére," Terra said.

"I have no idea who that is," Riku admitted, "And what did he mean by 'ease her heart'?"

"Well I assume he meant make her heart better… somehow?" Terra answered.

"What did he suggest exactly?" Naminé questioned with suspicion.

"Well he just told me to talk about what Aqua likes, told me how to serve wine which I messed up on the opening part, we talked about her training methods and _heh_ I remember talking about those times we kept lifting rocks. I was just using my bare strength but she would always use gravity magic which I thought was cheating," Terra went on.

"You were on a date," Riku stated.

"Yeah that's what it sounds like," Naminé said.

"What? No I wasn't," Terra denied.

"I think Sora's friend was trying to get you and Aqua together," Riku said.

"No no! That's not what was going on Ventus was there it couldn't be a date," Terra argued.

"Even so it really sounds like he was trying to get you and Aqua to talk together," Naminé said.

"Not many people know about how hearts work, I mean there's a good chance Sora may have said something but I think there's a better chance he was trying to get you and Aqua to talk more together," Riku said.

"We're just friends," Terra responded.

"You did freak out a bit when she placed her hands on yours," Naminé said.

"He did!?" Riku was suddenly interested.

"Aqua tried helping him with the door, when her hands touched his he got really scared all of a sudden and just tore apart the doors," Naminé said.

"Oh wow."

"It's not like that," Terra argued the two, "Aqua… she just… I was just reminded that she's a woman."

"Whoa what?" Riku was a bit shocked.

"Not like that! She's… a master so I can't really disrespect her by seeing her as something to just look at," Terra explained.

"… but if you were both masters at the same time then it would be okay?" Riku asked.

"N-No! We're old time friends it would be weird," Terra said.

"It worked for Sora and Kairi," Riku said.

"We're different, Aqua doesn't even think that way of anyone. She's never even thought of that kind of stuff," Terra said.

"But you're just now thinking that she's pretty?" Naminé asked.

"D- yes," Terra felt a blush as he answered.

"Am I gonna have to fix another relationship?" Riku asked.

"NO!" Terra denied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisdota: This chapter was a bitch, mostly because the more I studied the whole chamber of repose the more I had to change the direction of this chapter and I'm still certain I've left in a few plotholes. I'm gonna end this here next up is a bit of payoff with Sora and Kairi.


End file.
